So, with the horrific display on Saturday, and the injuries, coupled with the mass panic at Atkinsons suspension (pre oveeturn) is anyone else still thinking our summer business was brilliant?
I think that *everyone* would agree that signing Taylor and prolonging Brannagan's contract were pretty good bits of business, surely?
The other signings have been (so far!):
Asonganyi (who we haven't seen yet, so nobody knows)
Osei Yaw (has managed to be in the right place at the right time a few times so far, raw but promising)
Winnall (again we haven't seen him yet to judge - good pedigree, injuries a worry maybe?)
Kelly (I wasn't that sure about him last season, haven't seen much to change my mind)
McGuane (looked very promising in his early appearances with us, so the potential is there)
Clare (looks good going forward, defending is a 'work in progress' to be kind!)
Cooper (a bit of an unknown quantity, but again certainly promising)
I don't think that's bad at all - since we have stuck to our player development model, there are certainly some who are quite a long way from the finished article. But what's the alternative? Signing a load of L1 journeymen with no resale value. No thanks. I think we will have to accept that some of these players will blossom, others won't. That's just the way it is - but one game is a long way too soon to judge.
Sheer lack of numbers in some parts of the pitch *is* a worry, we are still missing pace and (as Saturday reminded us, as you correctly say) the defence looks paper thin with an injury/suspension or two.
I'm not sure that the quality or not of the players was what caused Saturday's poor display. I think it was poor tactics, a lack of urgency, an odd preseason schedule/preparation and maybe a bit of complacency. The one thing they can't blame is the supporters!