Player News The Great Annual Squad Number Watch Thread

[Steve Gilbert]

So for us sad posters who love seeing who wears what squad numbers here is what I can take so far from today’s pictures plus a few from last season who I assume will keep the same number. In brackets is the number they had in 24/15 if different.

1 Cumming
2 Long
3 Brown
4 Vaulks
5 Moore
6 Helik (47 last season)
7 Placheta
8 Brannagan
9 Harris
10 Phillips
11 Romeny
12
13 Eastwood
14
15 El Mizouni
16
17 Mills (44 last season)
18 Sibley (14 last season)
19
20 Bradshaw (50 last season)
21 Ingram
22
23 Dembele
24 Ter Avest
25
26 Currie
27
28 Ferdinan
29
30 Kioso
31 Knightbridge (33 last season)
32
33
34 Thorniley
35
36 Johnson
37
38 Goodwin (25 last season)
39 O’Donkor
40 Dale (17 last season)

 

[SirAndyOfCrosby]

Not sure I like 6 for Helik, feels wrong for a CB and would rather it went to a JM replacement

No.6 for Helik is absolute perfection.

Big bastard centre-half that will f*ck you up when you enter his domain, and then smash in a goal at the other end with absolutely zero f*cks.

Perfection.

 

[BicesterU]

Your clearly a modern football hipster who incorrectly thinks 6 is central midfielder!

5 and 6 are centre backs, 4 and 8 are central midfielders.

Over 40s back me up!

He's right. Then 11 is your left winger, 7 is your right winger and your 9 and 10 are self explanatory.

 

[battman]

It sometimes makes me question how good a coach Appleton actually was.

I mean, he deserves the plaudits for building that team, but did he have them playing to their collective ceiling?

I think building a squad is a managerial skill in itself. I appreciate a coach who is a good squad builder, as some managers are surprisingly poor builders of a squad, and can suffer from having blind spots and favourites. I appreciate everything Wilder did for us in getting us up and keeping us up, but his constant tinkering and one-month loans always saw us fall off and fall short of the play-offs. No co-incidence he improved as a manager when they got banned. At League Two level, simply having a well-built squad can make you go far, and whilst we maybe should have challenged Northants more, we also got into the JPT final and had an FA Cup run, knocking our PL Swansea

 

[brightonyellow]

PK - 30

 

[Whingit]

Ashton built most of the squad, but MApp getting us Kemar Roofe was probably the best bit of business we've done in my lifetime.

MApp almost certainly underachieved with that squad but we still got promoted and everything about the club was spot on at that time, which maybe the current hierarchy should learn from. Sarah on socials, regular communication from the top and an excellent brand of football made the time and general vibe and atmosphere feel probably more positive than last season, despite being 2 divisions lower.

 

[Emilio]

Your clearly a modern football hipster who incorrectly thinks 6 is central midfielder!

5 and 6 are centre backs, 4 and 8 are central midfielders.

Over 40s back me up!

35, and very much in agreement.

 

[Thomas/Brock/Jones]

He's right. Then 11 is your left winger, 7 is your right winger and your 9 and 10 are self explanatory.

Ooh 4 and 10 CM with 8 and 9 your forwards as when Aldo and Hamilton played .

 

[Thomas/Brock/Jones]

I have always seen 4 as CDM, Mickey Lewis, Martin Gray, Will Vaulks, Derek Townsley.

Les Phillips

 

[SirAndyOfCrosby]

the time and general vibe and atmosphere feel probably more positive than last season, despite being 2 divisions lower.

Mate, seriously?

We all know what 2016 was. But my word, it's taken on some weird OTT thing among large swathes of our fanbase.

Great players. Sensible management. In League Two.

We played a home game against Dagenham in front of 5k fans that season. We scraped 9k for a home game v Pompey ffs.

Listen, I wouldn't talk down those achievements (largely because the 25-35 year old fan base would lynch me) - but we're in serious danger of over-hyping what it was (as good as it was).

For me, last season was as good as anything I've tasted since 97/98 - and no amount of nostalgically longing for pumping Crawley or Barnet will change that.

 

[Bath Yellow]

Tyler Goodrham was number 19 last season no one has mentioned, any more news ?

 

[Steve Gilbert]

Mate, seriously?

We all know what 2016 was. But my word, it's taken on some weird OTT thing among large swathes of our fanbase.

Great players. Sensible management. In League Two.

We played a home game against Dagenham in front of 5k fans that season. We scraped 9k for a home game v Pompey ffs.

Listen, I wouldn't talk down those achievements (largely because the 25-35 year old fan base would lynch me) - but we're in serious danger of over-hyping what it was (as good as it was).

For me, last season was as good as anything I've tasted since 97/98 - and no amount of nostalgically longing for pumping Crawley or Barnet will change that.

This.
As a club we are light years ahead of where we were back then.
No achievement should be forgotten or not celebrated but as a club we are now a championship side which was a pipe dream back then.
There is nothing wrong with looking back with fondness at those times, I still look back at some of the games when we were in the conference with a smile on my face but I wouldn’t swap those times for where we are now.

We have a seasoned championship manager who knows what it takes to stay in this league and owners who are backing him.

 

[Foley]

Ashton built most of the squad, but MApp getting us Kemar Roofe was probably the best bit of business we've done in my lifetime.

MApp almost certainly underachieved with that squad but we still got promoted and everything about the club was spot on at that time, which maybe the current hierarchy should learn from. Sarah on socials, regular communication from the top and an excellent brand of football made the time and general vibe and atmosphere feel probably more positive than last season, despite being 2 divisions lower.

Wow.
So Norwich and Sunderland at home. Swansea away. And crowds of 7 000 were more positive.
I reckon last season was the best since 1985.

 

[werthersoriginal]

Wow.
So Norwich and Sunderland at home. Swansea away. And crowds of 7 000 were more positive.
I reckon last season was the best since 1985.

I’m not sure you can compare seasons that way. You can only beat the teams you play , 15-16 was great in one way and last season great in another. Most of the last ten seasons have been excellent in their own way.

 

[Ewes]

Mate, seriously?

For me, last season was as good as anything I've tasted since 97/98 - and no amount of nostalgically longing for pumping Crawley or Barnet will change that.

One good thing about the 97/98 era - we owned our own stadium. Crowds were fun, if not huge. We had some characters in the side in those days.

 

[Orkney Islands Yellow]

So for us sad posters who love seeing who wears what squad numbers here is what I can take so far from today’s pictures plus a few from last season who I assume will keep the same number. In brackets is the number they had in 24/15 if different.

1 Cumming
2 Long
3 Brown
4. Vaulks
5 Moore
6 Helik (47)
7 Placheta
8 Brannagan
9 Harris
10
11
12
13 Eastwood
14
15
16
17 Mills (44)
18
19
20 Bradshaw (50)
21 Ingram
26 Currie
28 Ferdinan
31 Knightbridge (33)
36 Johnson
39 O’Donkor

El Mizouni is number 15
Romeny 11

 

[m]

One good thing about the 97/98 era - we owned our own stadium. Crowds were fun, if not huge. We had some characters in the side in those days.

Well, we thought we owned our own stadium.

 

[Foley]

I’m not sure you can compare seasons that way. You can only beat the teams you play , 15-16 was great in one way and last season great in another. Most of the last ten seasons have been excellent in their own way.

There was a comment that the MAPP season was better than last season.
In my view last season was the best since 1985

 

[Stranger]

No Goodrham ?

 

[oldabingdonian]

Owen Dale has been allocated 40, rather than 17. This is, I assume, a 'demotion'. It allows Mills to be 17. However, what is the point of doing this AT THIS STAGE, when so much will change anyway? Is it so important that the players know the pecking order a month before the season starts?

 

[Morris Oxford]

Kioso?

 

[Jster]

No Goodrham ?

He was pictured arriving at training, just not pictured in training:

 

[Steve Gilbert]

Owen Dale has been allocated 40, rather than 17. This is, I assume, a 'demotion'. It allows Mills to be 17. However, what is the point of doing this AT THIS STAGE, when so much will change anyway? Is it so important that the players know the pecking order a month before the season starts?

Yes if you want to show a player that he isn’t in your plans.

 

[brightonyellow]

Kioso?

30 - same as last year

 

[battman]

Owen Dale has been allocated 40, rather than 17. This is, I assume, a 'demotion'. It allows Mills to be 17. However, what is the point of doing this AT THIS STAGE, when so much will change anyway? Is it so important that the players know the pecking order a month before the season starts?

It happens every year, last season Thorniley went from 4 to 34

 

[oldabingdonian]

Yes if you want to show a player that he isn’t in your plans.

I can see that, but one would naively assume that this would have been discussed with him and his agent. The number change just looks like public humiliation.

 

[Steve Gilbert]

I can see that, but one would naively assume that this would have been discussed with him and his agent. The number change just looks like public humiliation.

Players generally are told/asked about number changes so that their kit can get printed up. Again, not always the case if a manager wants a player out.

It is just one of many tactics to force a player out.

 

[Scotchegg]

Full squad * as I think it is at the moment, including shirt numbers that have either been confirmed through training photos or numbered from last season.

I believe that we currently have 27 players counting towards the squad limits (one of which is Easty). So we know that we're going to need to be moving players out to accommodate all new signings.




* provided for diagrammatical purposes only! Don't get bent out of shape over positions or pecking order just yet!!!

 

[Jster]

Brearey is gone btw - https://leamingtonobserver.co.uk/sp...oalkeeper-eddie-brearey-after-oxford-release/

 

[oldabingdonian]

I believe that we currently have 27 players counting towards the squad limits (one of which is Easty). So we know that we're going to need to be moving players out to accommodate all new signings.

I'm assuming that Eastwood, Sibley, Thorniley, Dale, Goodwin and probably Negru are seen as better not registered (Eastwood) / moved on / moved out, leaving 21(ish).

 

[tonyw]

MAPP suggested that we were the best team in the Division.
I am sure that we played the best football, but CW did out coach MAPP to finish ahead of us by a distance

In 2015/16, we scored the most goals in the division and conceded the fewest.

To do that, and lose the title by a whopping 13 points to Northampton, is actually really challenging!

Basically just reflects the fact that we absolutely walloped a lot of teams, but were a bit ropey in the close games. Meanwhile Northampton were historically, unsustainably good at winning one goal games that season.

Some of that may be down to coaching......I think some of it has to be down to luck as well.......