Right now, we only have two squad members over the age of thirty. Those are Cameron (35) and Wallace (33), both very injury prone. I don’t think we can count on them playing more than 20-25 matches at most.
Other than these two just Barbet (27), Kane (26) and Carroll (28) are above 25.
In a matter of eight months we have lost a number of seasoned pros: Wells (30), Pugh (33), Rangel (38), Hugill (28), Scowen (27), Hall (28) and Leinstner (30).
These have been replaced by mostly young players: Thomas (23), Dykes (24), Amos (23), Ramkilde (22) and Dickie (24) plus Carroll and we have taken back Oteh (21), Kakay (23), Hamalainen (23), Smyth (23) and Dieng (25) from loans. Three players have been promoted from U23: Bettache (20), Gubbins (19) and Alfa (21) and you might as well add Owens (22).
It is an exceptionally young squad. While we have replaced the outgoing players with same number of new faces, we have not replaced the experience that we have lost, not the quality.
I support our present recruitment policy, where we are looking for affordable young gems with a sell-on value. But we cannot count on youngsters only. We must blend it with a few experienced players, and not just those injury prone old heads we have.
I think 3-4 more players are incoming, including loans. I would like three of these to be 30+.
In the past, we have very good experience signing experienced players looking for their last decent contract, like Richard Dunne, Clint Hill and Clive Wilson in defense. In midfield I think of players such as Ray Wilkins, Peter Reid, Shaun Derry, Wild Thing, Gavin Peacock and even Vinni Jones. Some of the old forwards we have signed include Paul Furlong, Heidar Helguson, Trevor Francis, Clive Walker – all great signings. We might not always afford same quality today, but I don’t think some old players stepping down from the Premiership are always that expensive.
I feel Kenny (32 at the time of signing), Hill (31), Derry (32) and Helguson (33) were exceptionally shrewd signings by Warnock right before the 2010/2011 season. I don’t think any of them cost us a fortune and none of them had a long record of injuries as far as I can recall.
Other than these two just Barbet (27), Kane (26) and Carroll (28) are above 25.
In a matter of eight months we have lost a number of seasoned pros: Wells (30), Pugh (33), Rangel (38), Hugill (28), Scowen (27), Hall (28) and Leinstner (30).
These have been replaced by mostly young players: Thomas (23), Dykes (24), Amos (23), Ramkilde (22) and Dickie (24) plus Carroll and we have taken back Oteh (21), Kakay (23), Hamalainen (23), Smyth (23) and Dieng (25) from loans. Three players have been promoted from U23: Bettache (20), Gubbins (19) and Alfa (21) and you might as well add Owens (22).
It is an exceptionally young squad. While we have replaced the outgoing players with same number of new faces, we have not replaced the experience that we have lost, not the quality.
I support our present recruitment policy, where we are looking for affordable young gems with a sell-on value. But we cannot count on youngsters only. We must blend it with a few experienced players, and not just those injury prone old heads we have.
I think 3-4 more players are incoming, including loans. I would like three of these to be 30+.
In the past, we have very good experience signing experienced players looking for their last decent contract, like Richard Dunne, Clint Hill and Clive Wilson in defense. In midfield I think of players such as Ray Wilkins, Peter Reid, Shaun Derry, Wild Thing, Gavin Peacock and even Vinni Jones. Some of the old forwards we have signed include Paul Furlong, Heidar Helguson, Trevor Francis, Clive Walker – all great signings. We might not always afford same quality today, but I don’t think some old players stepping down from the Premiership are always that expensive.
I feel Kenny (32 at the time of signing), Hill (31), Derry (32) and Helguson (33) were exceptionally shrewd signings by Warnock right before the 2010/2011 season. I don’t think any of them cost us a fortune and none of them had a long record of injuries as far as I can recall.
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