Current Staff Ed Waldron

[Brahma]

I cut and pasted my 'above post' from the January thread, where I actually had Scarlett as a success. That was just before Spurs recalled him. He had been a good signing, should have played more and we wouldn't, I believe, have had such a poor recent run.

Currie will be a good signing in time, who knows if that'll it be at Oxford. I also advocated Bradshaw in a host of previous posts but let's not kid ourselves, he is not a Ed Waldron signing, despite Ed in the TB announcement claiming/inferring he was right involved.

Rowett WILL have more influence over recruitment than Des and some of that recruitment team, that is only a positive thing.

 

[Brahma]

So how many can we say are bad bits of business? At this stage it looks like Goodwin, Matete, Burey, Sibley and Phillips? And with two of those being young players out on loan there is still the chance they come good.

We certainly can add Ebiowei to that list. We cannot also claim players who haven't contributed at all, as being successful signings - although I appreciate development and squad profile. Therefore, Edwards, El Miz to a lesser extent, should fall into the 'haven't worked out'.

Anyway, the point stands IMO, Waldron needs to do better.

 

[Scotchegg]

Good breakdown. Would love to know the back story on Goodwin. Big L1 fee and long term commitment but had all the hallmarks of a short term panic buy - wonder where the power balance was on that one between manager and recruitment team.

Overall I think there is a more generous perspective on some of these..

Dale was a good L1 signing who played an important role in our promotion efforts. There were several times where the team looked done in and deflated where his never say die attitude kept the lights on at important times.

Currie is a signing loads of other clubs wish they'd made. If Mills is in the 'in time' category he must be too.

Romeny is too early to tell for sure but based on what we've seen would argue he adds something we were missing.

Scarlett. A very good player indeed. His lack of success here, I'd argue, was circumstantial rather than a recruitment failure. What Rowett would give to have him in the squad now playing the way we do.

Ingram was signed as an experienced, veteran to be a dependable backup. He has been in every matchday squad on that basis. Job done there. Any long term injury to Cumming and we'd have found a way to upgrade the #1

El Miz. Debatable. He's played a fair few games and Rowett seems like him enough to keep him on the bench. Think it would harsh to call this signing a black and white fail. Also notable that until joining us he played almost exclusively as a broadly defensive, nuts-and-bolts midfielder but was played in a more attacking role by Des, often as a #10 - pretty sure that wasn't the recruitment brief.

Bradshaw. Harsh. Only really played a couple of time as a Harris replacement and tbh looked limited but fine. Would put him down as a sensible and pragmatic Rowett signing tbh.

Matos occasionally looks a bit green but, for me, has already proved to be a good loan. Classy player but aggressive with it, strong athelete. Not a fail for me.

If you buy a few of those arguments then the hit rate surpasses 50% quite quickly.

Along with @tatabanya this is a fairer summary of those who have come. Also, we do have to recognise the context with some of these signings.

As rightly said, Owen Dale was recruited as a solid league one player that would stabilise our season and give us the opportunity to push on. He achieved this and more. He may now be surplus to requirements but that doesn't make the deal a poor one.

Sibley and El Miz are players that were brought in to give squad options with the hope that they may become first team regulars in time. They were low risk options that haven't worked out yet, but I don't think that they should be judged in the same way as some others.

But equally, we have not had any deals that have exceeded expectations. And when we are working at the lower end of Championship finances we do need to be able to drag out a hidden gem or two to add real value. I actually think that Scarlett could have been the one to have given us far more, but it didn't work out for various reasons, none of which were Waldron's fault. Equally, I think we would have had a far more settled and effective backline if Nelson had been available all season.

But that's football and whilst I'm a long way from matching on the training ground with pitchforks to get rid of the recruitment team, they are one of the areas where we have to step up if we're going to be a sustainable top 30 club.

 

[Common Villager]

I think my biggest gripe with Waldron so far is his overall squad building. We almost always seem to be imbalanced. Off the top of my head:

- We currently have three fit right backs and no left backs. I still don't fully understand the decision not to recall Currie in January
- We have lots of wingers/no10s, but have very little pace in wide areas. Only Placheta can beat a man with speed
- We have a lot of very slight midfielders/attackers: Placheta, El Mizouni, Dembele, Goodrham, Harris, Rorigues (arguably not slight, but tends to be quite weak on the ball), Sibley (OOL). We rely on Phillips to provide any sort of power in the final third (which says a lot)
- Yet again we have been heavily reliant on Harris to lead the line. I think it's disappointing we didn't sign another option in the summer beyond the relatively untested (and seemingly unfancied) Scarlett. I liked the look of Bradshaw before he got injured, but he came with some injury concerns and hadn't played a lot of football this season, so it did feel like a stop-gap signing (accept that's probably the best you can hope for in January)

FWIW I completely accept that the summer window was far from easy. Planning would've been a challenge given we didn't know what league we were going to be in until after everyone else, the budget was always going to be limited at this level, and we lost our most Championship-ready player from a squad that scraped its way into the playoffs.

Using a horribly corporate 'performance review' label, I would put Waldron down as 'meets expectations'. To succeed at this level, I think we need him to start 'exceeding expectations', and he strikes me as the sort of guy who will learn and develop, so, I'm hopeful that, if we stay up, he will build a more well-rounded squad in the summer.

 

[Marked Ox]

I think my biggest gripe with Waldron so far is his overall squad building. We almost always seem to be imbalanced. Off the top of my head:

- We currently have three fit right backs and no left backs. I still don't fully understand the decision not to recall Currie in January
- We have lots of wingers/no10s, but have very little pace in wide areas. Only Placheta can beat a man with speed
- We have a lot of very slight midfielders/attackers: Placheta, El Mizouni, Dembele, Goodrham, Harris, Rorigues (arguably not slight, but tends to be quite weak on the ball), Sibley (OOL). We rely on Phillips to provide any sort of power in the final third (which says a lot)
- Yet again we have been heavily reliant on Harris to lead the line. I think it's disappointing we didn't sign another option in the summer beyond the relatively untested (and seemingly unfancied) Scarlett. I liked the look of Bradshaw before he got injured, but he came with some injury concerns and hadn't played a lot of football this season, so it did feel like a stop-gap signing (accept that's probably the best you can hope for in January)

FWIW I completely accept that the summer window was far from easy. Planning would've been a challenge given we didn't know what league we were going to be in until after everyone else, the budget was always going to be limited at this level, and we lost our most Championship-ready player from a squad that scraped its way into the playoffs.

Using a horribly corporate 'performance review' label, I would put Waldron down as 'meets expectations'. To succeed at this level, I think we need him to start 'exceeding expectations', and he strikes me as the sort of guy who will learn and develop, so, I'm hopeful that, if we stay up, he will build a more well-rounded squad in the summer.

Tbf, I'd have thought whether, or not, to recall Currie would have been down to Rowett. Albeit I don't think you are suggesting that.

 

[Vancouver Yellow]

FWIW I completely accept that the summer window was far from easy. Planning would've been a challenge given we didn't know what league we were going to be in until after everyone else, the budget was always going to be limited at this level, and we lost our most Championship-ready player from a squad that scraped its way into the playoffs.

Agree. Planning was a challenge, it was also delayed by 3 or so weeks compared to every other team due to the play offs. So we didn’t have much time. That’s without even mentioning the transfer embargo situation, which, if we aim to be a top 30 club, situations like that just cannot be happening. It’s unnacceptable, and I’d love to know just how much that impacted our summer recruitment.

All in all, I do think Waldron did a fairly decent job considering all the points above, and should we stay up - I’m excited to see what happens in the summer!

My main gripe of this season (which isn’t even relative to Waldron) is the Currie situation, that is genuinely the only thing that has left me baffled. I think we’d be sitting on more points had he been recalled in January, as being left without a LB significantly impacted our defence.

 

[werthersoriginal]

Agree. Planning was a challenge, it was also delayed by 3 or so weeks compared to every other team due to the play offs. So we didn’t have much time. That’s without even mentioning the transfer embargo situation, which, if we aim to be a top 30 club, situations like that just cannot be happening. It’s unnacceptable, and I’d love to know just how much that impacted our summer recruitment.

All in all, I do think Waldron did a fairly decent job considering all the points above, and should we stay up - I’m excited to see what happens in the summer!

My main gripe of this season (which isn’t even relative to Waldron) is the Currie situation, that is genuinely the only thing that has left me baffled. I think we’d be sitting on more points had he been recalled in January, as being left without a LB significantly impacted our defence.

Although we don't know if he'd be any good. El Miz got rave reviews on loan at Orient last season and is an occasional reserve in the Championship.

 

[RgYellows]

El Miz. Debatable. He's played a fair few games and Rowett seems like him enough to keep him on the bench. Think it would harsh to call this signing a black and white fail. Also notable that until joining us he played almost exclusively as a broadly defensive, nuts-and-bolts midfielder but was played in a more attacking role by Des, often as a #10 - pretty sure that wasn't the recruitment brief.

El Miz himself said he signed here because we wanted him to get forwards and play as one of the attacking two in the centre of midfield (rather than the defensive one in Des’s system, or a defensive 2 in most others)

 

[Vancouver Yellow]

Although we don't know if he'd be any good. El Miz got rave reviews on loan at Orient last season and is an occasional reserve in the Championship.

True, although neither Leigh or Bennett were particularly spectacular in LG1, and they’ve both stepped up. (well who knows about Bennett tbf)

You’d imagine the top LB in LG1 can make the step up too.

 

[ThatSlopesATwelfthMan]

El Miz himself said he signed here because we wanted him to get forwards and play as one of the attacking two in the centre of midfield (rather than the defensive one in Des’s system, or a defensive 2 in most others)

Thanks, stand corrected. I wonder what the thinking was behind choosing him to play that role? Must have been some scouting insight or data behind it. If that was the intention would argue it's not been particularly successful. For me he's looked ok shoring things up but not done anything much creatively or as an attacking threat.

 

[RgYellows]

Thanks, stand corrected. I wonder what the thinking was behind choosing him to play that role? Must have been some scouting insight or data behind it. If that was the intention would argue it's not been particularly successful. For me he's looked ok shoring things up but not done anything much creatively or as an attacking threat.

Think we saw a bit of what they wanted it to look like for the Stoke home game. The role is very different under Des and under GR, and possibly Des wanted a bit more steel in the reverse mullet as we made the step up.

That system would always struggle with i) no wingers ii) Vaulks not able to play the solo DM role well iii) Brannagan being out long term.

 

[Chippy]

Thought the points raised and summarisation from @Common Villager and @Vancouver Yellow hit the nail on the head re our recruitment and squad building.

We’ve lacked physicality across the team for years and it’s been so obvious to almost everyone that we need to improve this, but we have by and large failed to do so except with the odd centre back signing where you’d expect a physical presence anyway as this goes with that position. Elsewhere on the pitch we are consistently far too small and weak and suffer as a result. It’s fine to have smaller less physical players, but very often we have too many on the pitch at same time and are outmuscled and struggle to defend and attack set pieces and win the ball aerially and in tough challenges etc…

The left back situation this season has been discussed at length and at best leaves serious questions to be answered!

Up front we’ve lacked bodies, quality, height, strength and options for as long as I can remember. Most clubs have 4-5 strikers of various qualities and styles/physique available to them, we’ve had probably 2, maybe 3 at a push for a very long time and lacked proper quality in that area too. It’s not all down to Waldron historically but when you think in recent seasons we’ve had the likes of Perkins, Tyler Smith, Burey?, Goodwin, to a lesser degree Scarlett and Gatlin, it’s a wonder we’ve achieved what we have. There’s probably barely 20 goals and/or assists between all these put together. Even Harris we still argue about whether he’s a “proper” striker or not. Before this we had Mackie, Baldock, Winnall, Agyei etc… etc…. As a club we are crying out to sign some quality centre forwards but never seem to manage it. Roofe and Taylor the only decent exceptions I can think of, in terms of regularly starting, scoring and being a real success going back over a number of years.

We have to build a better, stronger squad, that’s more consistent across the various positions. Let’s hope we’re still in the Championship come the summer. Then it’s over to Ed Waldron and his team to be consistently far better than recent recruitment windows have proved to be. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but in terms of recruitment results on the pitch speak loudest, and very few of last summers signings have really made the impact expected. Jamie Cumming (who we knew anyway) the massive standout and I’d be offering him a new long term contract asap.

 

[Foley]

True, although neither Leigh or Bennett were particularly spectacular in LG1, and they’ve both stepped up. (well who knows about Bennett tbf)

You’d imagine the top LB in LG1 can make the step up too.

I thought that Bennett was excellent in L1.
Leigh was pretty good as well especially under Manning

 

[tonyw]

Sibley and El Miz are players that were brought in to give squad options with the hope that they may become first team regulars in time. They were low risk options that haven't worked out yet, but I don't think that they should be judged in the same way as some others.

El Miz was £400k, wasn't he? I know that's peanuts for a lot of our current peers, but for us that's like a Top 10 all time most expensive signing!

Scarlett. A very good player indeed. His lack of success here, I'd argue, was circumstantial rather than a recruitment failure. What Rowett would give to have him in the squad now playing the way we do.

Here's what gets me - Scarlett is, clearly, a very good player. But he's not suited to play as a lone striker in our formation. We need our #9 to have a colossal workrate, to be constantly on the move and get down the channels all day and give the opposing CBs an almighty headache. Scarlett is one of the purest natural finishers I've seen in yellow, but he's not that mobile and his workrate is only average.

I'm not saying it's necessarily just Waldron's fault - Des and his team were surely part of the discussion as well - but how come, at some point, someone didn't say "Scarlett - good player, but are we sure he's exactly what we need?". Because I genuinely don't think he was (Bradshaw might well have been......but unfortunately we've not yet really had a chance to find out)

 

[Foley]

El Miz was £400k, wasn't he? I know that's peanuts for a lot of our current peers, but for us that's like a Top 10 all time most expensive signing!



Here's what gets me - Scarlett is, clearly, a very good player. But he's not suited to play as a lone striker in our formation. We need our #9 to have a colossal workrate, to be constantly on the move and get down the channels all day and give the opposing CBs an almighty headache. Scarlett is one of the purest natural finishers I've seen in yellow, but he's not that mobile and his workrate is only average.

I'm not saying it's necessarily just Waldron's fault - Des and his team were surely part of the discussion as well - but how come, at some point, someone didn't say "Scarlett - good player, but are we sure he's exactly what we need?". Because I genuinely don't think he was (Bradshaw might well have been......but unfortunately we not yet really had a chance to find out)

I agree re Scarlett.
He is clearly not somebody to play the lone striker role especially when we are playing teams that will have a lot more of the ball.
Scarlett would not have had the impact that Harris would had in Saturday.
I am a little surprised as to how the club thought him to be a good fit based in our style of play, and the fact that we were always likely to struggle to have a lot of possession

 

[SirAndyOfCrosby]

We need our #9 to have a colossal workrate, to be constantly on the move and get down the channels all day and give the opposing CBs an almighty headache.

If (when) Argyle are relegated I'd like to think we're all over Ryan Hardie.

One year left on his contract, far too good for League One but the type of striker who would probably slip under the radar of 'established' Championship clubs - despite an excellent 18 goals at this level since the start of last season. Perfect age too.

And in terms of our criteria - he is renowned for his workrate, his pace and (wait for it) - an excellent finisher too.

 

[BicesterU]

One of the things that make it difficult to judge Waldron is that the last four windows have been under 3 different managers, all of whom have had different ways of playing.

Manning was all about ball retention and our shape without the ball, Des wanted quick wingers, and to attack on the turn-over, and Rowett so far has been about keeping it tight at the back and pinning our hopes on set pieces.

We also need to take into account that if the measure of success is ‘starts regularly’, then by that measure there are going to be a few ‘failures’ because of the sheer amount of signings that have come in.

Bit odd to include a youth keeper and back up keeper in the ‘failures’ (or not successes) category, especially when Cumming has massively exceded my expectations. There’s criticism of the lack of saleable assets I the squad, but we picked up Cumming on a free last summer, and I expect it’d take a 7-figure bid to take him off our hands after a frankly outstanding season.

The Currie decision is one I’m torn on. He’s obviously doing exceptionally well at Orient, but I can understand why he wasn’t recalled.

At the time, Leigh was flying, Bennett - our starting Lb last season and the start of this - was on the verge of returning to the squad, and we had Brown as back-up, having signed Helik at CB. Obviously injuries there have made it look like a bad decision, but as I say, I can understand it. I also think Rowett likes experience, and to know exactly what he’s getting, and perhaps Currie didn’t offer that in January.

 

[RgYellows]

Manning was all about ball retention and our shape without the ball

The myth persists!

Our wins against Derby, Barnsley, Charlton, Exeter and Bristol Rovers all involved us losing the battle of possession, usually by a fair amount. That includes all the ‘statement’ wins we had under Manning that season. We beat a high flying Exeter team 3-0 with 33% of the ball.

Manning controlled games but not the ball. He signed quick forwards that could play on the break.

 

[holdsteady]

The myth persists!

Our wins against Derby, Barnsley, Charlton, Exeter and Bristol Rovers all involved us losing the battle of possession, usually by a fair amount. That includes all the ‘statement’ wins we had under Manning that season. We beat a high flying Exeter team 3-0 with 33% of the ball.

Manning controlled games but not the ball. He signed quick forwards that could play on the break.

He said a few times in interviews that the team is comfortable playing in a low block, not the sort of thing you say if your team are dominating possession.

 

[BicesterU]

The myth persists!

Our wins against Derby, Barnsley, Charlton, Exeter and Bristol Rovers all involved us losing the battle of possession, usually by a fair amount. That includes all the ‘statement’ wins we had under Manning that season. We beat a high flying Exeter team 3-0 with 33% of the ball.

Manning controlled games but not the ball. He signed quick forwards that could play on the break.

I think maybe both things can be true.

When I think of Manning's time here, I think of us controlling the ball when we had it (lots of passing across the back four and into and out of the deep-lying midfielders), and controlling the space when we didn't. I think of how effective Marcus McGuane was in Manning's side, I think of Bodin and Goodrham on the wings on the team sheet, but playing very narrow, with the width provided by the full-backs. I also think of him writing off Josh Murphy, who turned out to be our fastest, most effective winger under Manning.

But out of possession, you're absolutely correct - extremely well-drilled, and comfortable without the ball.

 

[Bigdwoolly]

Manning and Rowett have fairly similar approaches I think - very solid across the middle of the pitch, narrow wingers, keep it tight, out ball to Greg Leigh who provides the width. Neither manager is that bothered about having the ball that much in close games. Rowett relies on set pieces a lot more, but that might be because, relatively, Manning had more attacking options.

The odd decision really from Ed and whoever else, was going for Des in the first place - I wonder if they did their research fully, given it was a bit of rush. I know he was City Group but his approach was very different to both Manning and Rowett and requires a different set of players.

 

[Gregortheox]

This will be the acid test this summer…should we stay up of course.
He will be trusted to bring in 4 or 5 key players who will be expected to change the whole dynamic of where we see ourselves.

 

[Osleroad]

Surely Rowett is working with what we had already albeit shoring up a few positions with what was available in Jan obvs his style will be dictated by several factors though not sure he is as inflexible as some are making out. A shot of better quality players obvs may mean some also end up moving on tho can't see the urgency to get players "taken off our hands" which is a negative rather than a positive angle.

 

[werthersoriginal]

Surely Rowett is working with what we had already albeit shoring up a few positions with what was available in Jan obvs his style will be dictated by several factors though not sure he is as inflexible as some are making out. A shot of better quality players obvs may mean some also end up moving on tho can't see the urgency to get players "taken off our hands" which is a negative rather than a positive angle.

Some posters like nothing more than listing which of our our regular players should be 'moved on'.

 

[Foley]

Surely Rowett is working with what we had already albeit shoring up a few positions with what was available in Jan obvs his style will be dictated by several factors though not sure he is as inflexible as some are making out. A shot of better quality players obvs may mean some also end up moving on tho can't see the urgency to get players "taken off our hands" which is a negative rather than a positive angle.

I tend to agree.
Defensively, for our position we are generally very good.
The problem is clearly our forward play and making chances.
With Tyler dropping off a little ( not surprising), Philips and Dembele underperforming and Mills coming back from injury ( as well as El Mizouni not yet doing it at Championship level), there are not a lot of choices.
We clearly need more quality and pace in the attacking areas. I assume that the recruitment team is geared up for this before next season, which will need to make us a much better team going forwards.

 

[tatabanya]

Manning and Rowett have fairly similar approaches I think - very solid across the middle of the pitch, narrow wingers, keep it tight, out ball to Greg Leigh who provides the width. Neither manager is that bothered about having the ball that much in close games. Rowett relies on set pieces a lot more, but that might be because, relatively, Manning had more attacking options.

The odd decision really from Ed and whoever else, was going for Des in the first place - I wonder if they did their research fully, given it was a bit of rush. I know he was City Group but his approach was very different to both Manning and Rowett and requires a different set of players.

Our performance at Wembley under Des was probably the best out of possession performance I’ve ever seen from an Oxford team.

 

[bazzer9461]

This will be the acid test this summer…should we stay up of course.
He will be trusted to bring in 4 or 5 key players who will be expected to change the whole dynamic of where we see ourselves.

More like 6/7 he did say when interviews a few weeks back after a defeat that he would like to bring in 10 players but he can’t

 

[Scotchegg]

More like 6/7 he did say when interviews a few weeks back after a defeat that he would like to bring in 10 players but he can’t

That was a throw away comment about working with what you have outside of transfer windows rather than any genuine squad assessment.

I'm not sure that we've taken full advantage of the loan options this season and would hope that we can look to bring in more like Nelson, Matos and Scarlett (if we use him right), as well as permanent deals that can give long term value.

I'd be amazed if we aren't looking at double figures for summer incomings if we remain in the Championship.

 

[ThatSlopesATwelfthMan]

I tend to agree.
Defensively, for our position we are generally very good.
The problem is clearly our forward play and making chances.
With Tyler dropping off a little ( not surprising), Philips and Dembele underperforming and Mills coming back from injury ( as well as El Mizouni not yet doing it at Championship level), there are not a lot of choices.
We clearly need more quality and pace in the attacking areas. I assume that the recruitment team is geared up for this before next season, which will need to make us a much better team going forwards.

Agree. A mention for Rodrigues. He's our most 'creative' player, the one midfielder we have who's capable of spotting and playing a killer defence-splitting ball or doing the unexpected to unlock things. He also work quite hard. But... is a complete loose canon positionally and needs a split second too much time on the ball. That was an issue last year in L1 against the better teams but is a major problem this year against championship opposition. Rowett appears to be more open to his attacking players using their judgement and expressing themselves than Des or Manning were but he can only work with what he has. We struggle to pick up and either control the ball or quickly release it in central areas so our wingers are more often than not having to pick up tricky passes down the line or are relying on Brannagan doing his Pirlo thing from deep. It's ok and can be quite effective but does make us a bit one dimensional and easy to defend against. On the plus side Romeny has shown glimpses of something different. Just a marginal uplift in that area could have a big impact on the run in.

 

[SirAndyOfCrosby]

A mention for Rodrigues. He's our most 'creative' player, the one midfielder we have who's capable of spotting and playing a killer defence-splitting ball or doing the unexpected to unlock things.

I often find myself thinking of that 2nd goal at Wembley and wondering if the answer could indeed be...

On the plus side Romeny has shown glimpses of something different.