5 centre halves

[smooth 114]

spillane, askou, nelson, whitbread and the doc

the doc''s contract up this summer... it is then when we will look at contracts

surely askou and nelson are on two year contracts at least, spillane I am not sure but think he resigned last summer. Whitbread just signed

would you offer the doc another contract, when that weekly wage can be redirected to a new player... where we do not have five players going for two positions... goalie for example

I would have whitbread and askou as my starters next year with nelson and spillane as cover... we do have spillane who can play right back, but do we think we can afford these five even if we did go up?

[morty 0]

I think Doc is still on pretty high wages, wouldn''t surprise me if he went.Which is a pity, as he has been playing well.

[In Dubious Battle 0]

Spillane might be considered cover for Martin? What his best position? I thought he was better at right back, but then I don''t go every week so might be misplaced in my assessment.

[a1canary 0]

brilliantly as he has done of late, i can''t help thinking the doc''s contract situation will mirror that of hucks when he left.

he''s a high earner and PL may well think he can get by without him and use the money better.

i hope the club handle it better, but i don''t suppose there''d be the same uproar. although he''s been a great servant.

[morty 0]

[quote user="Say Hello To The Angels"]Spillane might be considered cover for Martin? What his best position? I thought he was better at right back, but then I don''t go every week so might be misplaced in my assessment. [/quote]Yeah I agree, he is better at right back.

[kentcanary 0]

Interesting point.I do wonder if the back 4 next season will be Spillane, Askou, Whitbread, Drury.None of these played last saturday.

The defense still concerns me and has been helped out by Forster and poor finishing in recent games.If we are in the Championship we will be punished.At the moment a team on a run like ours is not going to be changed much.

[GJP 79]

Obviously a lot can change between now and then and it''ll depend on finances etc but I wouldn''t be surprised if the current first choice defence (Martin, Doc, Nelson and Drury) is what we put out at the start of the next season.

I don''t see Lambert changing anything too much until it goes wrong/needs changing.

 

[a1canary 0]

was thinking that kent. in the champ we would have conceded more in each of our last three games but for league 1 level finishing.

it''s because of our own fine finishing from each of our front 3 that we have taken advantage of league 1 level mistakes to become the country''s top scorers. we''ve made the same mistakes of late but our opponents in this league haven''t capitalised.

you would assume askou and whitbread are going to be our defensive cb partnership in the champ, if we get there.

[CANARY CHARGE 0]

[quote user="smooth"]spillane, askou, nelson, whitbread and the doc

the doc''s contract up this summer... it is then when we will look at contracts

surely askou and nelson are on two year contracts at least, spillane I am not sure but think he resigned last summer. Whitbread just signed

would you offer the doc another contract, when that weekly wage can be redirected to a new player... where we do not have five players going for two positions... goalie for example

I would have whitbread and askou as my starters next year with nelson and spillane as cover... we do have spillane who can play right back, but do we think we can afford these five even if we did go up?[/quote]

the Doc has found his level in this league! he wont be good enough for the championship!

[GJP 79]

[quote user="a1canary"] you would assume askou and whitbread are going to be our defensive cb partnership in the champ, if we get there.[/quote]

Would you assume that?

Neither of them are in the team/first choice at the moment and have very little experience at Championship level.

 

[Canary_on_the Trent 0]

Not sure Spillane is ready to play centre half, he''s not the biggest physically and as a 20 year he is still learning the game, at present his best position is right back. Doherty has been our best centre half this season barring the opening day of the season where just about everybody on the pitch didn''t perform and I would say Nelson struggled more so that day, however Doherty is surely 1 of the clubs highest earners and i''m sure his contract situation will be reviewed at the end of the season, would be a real shame if he was to go because as i''ve said he is our best centre half.If anybody was to go it would be Michael Nelson, he has done a very good job over the past 2 months but his lack of pace, particularly acceleration and his non existent distribution will really get punished in the Championship, there has been a few signs in recent games, the Walsall goal last week was dreadful defending, he firstly misjudged the bounce and then was woefully done for pace by Deeney who isn''t lightning quick. Doherty, Askou, Whitbread and then Spillane for cover would be sufficient and covers all bases next season in my opinion.

[a1canary 0]

granted gjp, there''s a bit of a leap of faith there with whitbread but i''m going on PLs judgement.

as for askou, i''ve seen all 3 of nelson, doc and askou and it''s clear to me the latter is a class above the other two, even if doc is still capable of being effective at champ level. maybe nelson can be but he''s untested and they are both too similar anyway. we need a bit of culture in there!! askou provides it in my view and from what i''ve heard whitbread is supposed to be good and calm on the ball too.

so, that''s my rationale for the original assumption!!

[smooth 114]

canary on the trent i agree about nelson but with a long contract we know it''ll be hard to shift... and for cover he is ok... as i said askou and whitbread would be ahead of him anyway for me

I do think we have seen the best of the doc and he isn''t improving in a sense that as many have said would make him a good championship defender... and for the last three years he hasn''t been a good champs. defender

sure doc may be offered a contract but we should and will be offering lower wages than he is on, so guess it depends if someone else offers more

I\would rather that money going on another players wages as we said goalkeeper than a defender who has been here for a while and not really shown any improvement

[Its only my opinion 0]

Is the doc good enough to gain promotion to the prem next season? Could we use his wages to buy a player good enough to win us promotion and keep the others as back up?

[morty 0]

Nelson isn''t good enough for the champ.

[Bill 1,788]

I think Lambert is already building his championship team, by that he has 10 outfield players playing in a certain way with covering players to slot in when needed - almost only for injury.

I''ve never known a more settled team. If you get in you stay in. I doubt any of us would have thought either Doc or Nelson would be playing regularly in Jan. Lambert may well see how they fare, though Nelson does look as if he''s at his highest level League 1.

Good that we have got a manager who seems able to get the best out of players rather than as previous, seeing good players just not performing. Suggest that Doc will accept what''s offered, if it is offered. He''s not likely to get better elsewhere.

Nice to have these type of concerns though.

[smooth 114]

but morty do you expect someone to come in for nelson, I don''t

I believe that spillane can be cover for centre back even at 20 years of age... he certainly will be cover for our right back

our finances will not be miraculously different in the champ, mcveigh, curo will have moved on so those wages would have gone... so with docs as well we can certainly look at re-investing these wages in a goalkeeper and other players

[smooth 114]

and city1st I agree with you a good manager that gets a group of above average league 1 players to play this well has put us in this good position

but with good players, certainly champ opposition and good champ. players in our squad the management style does have to change a bit... getting our players to play above themselves for this season is one thing but for another it is very tough

[Nexus_Canary 1,206]

[quote user="a1canary"]brilliantly as he has done of late, i can''t help thinking the doc''s contract situation will mirror that of hucks when he left.

he''s a high earner and PL may well think he can get by without him and use the money better.

i hope the club handle it better, but i don''t suppose there''d be the same uproar. although he''s been a great servant.[/quote]More like dancing in the streets !On a more serious note even though i will happily lead the "Doc Contract Terminated" Conga outta CarrowCant begrudge the guy a great season so far but comparing him with Huckerby is frankly not even the same ball game.Id be disapointed to see Doc treated that way but id certainly not be as furious as i was when i heard Hucks had been released.

[Harry 0]

[quote user="GJP"]

[quote user="a1canary"] you would assume askou and whitbread are going to be our defensive cb partnership in the champ, if we get there.[/quote]

Would you assume that?

Neither of them are in the team/first choice at the moment and have very little experience at Championship level.[/quote]

As Askou has been sidelined with a broken metatarsal since

mid December I don''t think you can use that as a decent argument.

[TheGoogler 604]

Let''s not worry about what defence we''re going to be using in the Championship if and until we get there.

[GJP 79]

[quote user="a1canary"]granted gjp, there''s a bit of a leap of faith there with whitbread but i''m going on PLs judgement. as for askou, i''ve seen all 3 of nelson, doc and askou and it''s clear to me the latter is a class above the other two, even if doc is still capable of being effective at champ level. maybe nelson can be but he''s untested and they are both too similar anyway. we need a bit of culture in there!! askou provides it in my view and from what i''ve heard whitbread is supposed to be good and calm on the ball too. so, that''s my rationale for the original assumption!![/quote]

Personally, from what I''ve seen of Nelson now I wouldn''t pick Askou ahead of him and certainly not ahead of Doc.

Doc is a better defender and far better with the ball than either of them.

Whitbread... we''ll have to wait and see.

[GJP 79]

[quote user="Harry"][quote user="GJP"]

[quote user="a1canary"] you would assume askou and whitbread are going to be our defensive cb partnership in the champ, if we get there.[/quote]

Would you assume that?

Neither of them are in the team/first choice at the moment and have very little experience at Championship level.[/quote]

As Askou has been sidelined with a broken metatarsal since mid December I don''t think you can use that as a decent argument.
[/quote]

Is Askou in the team at the moment? No.

Does Askou have Championship experience? No.

 

[Nuff Said 5,961]

Why does everyone think the Doc must be highly paid? He only re-signed (NOT resigned, that''s the opposite) for one year - allegedly after looking for other offers but not getting any - and I would have thought that we were putting relegation clauses in contracts by then. And smooth, why do you say the financial situation will be the same in the Championship next year (IF we go up!)? We''ve done a fair amount of cost cutting this season, we won''t be hit by the rebate on season tickets, and there''s TV money etc too.

[CanaryJames 0]

As I see it:

Doherty - Our best CB. More than capable in the Championship, if he has the right partner. He never had a settled partner last year, and had to play with all manner of jokers, so you can''t really count that against him. He should have been higher than Croft in POTY standings easily as well.

Whitbread - Similar to Doherty, I think he''s Championship standard (and pretty decent at that). No worries about him at all.

Askou - Played very well this season, and has impressed. The Championship will be a big test, but I think he''s got the attributes to play a part. Not convinced (as much as I like him) he''d be a starter, but definitely needs to be kept.

Spillane - A right-back. Plain and simply. Will cover CB in an emergency, but he''s Martin''s understudy at present.

Nelson - This is a tricky one. He looked shaky at first, but has been a key figure in our recent run. Yet, every now and then, you see why he''d struggle at a higher level. If I was to get rid of any of our CB''s, Nelson would be the one I''d choose unfortunately.

All that''s irrelevant until we are promoted, but I''d be tempted to try and get cash for Nelson and bring in another Championship standard CB in his place. Harsh maybe, but we can''t go into next year with players whose level is League One.

[ZLF 335]

[quote user="kentcanary"]Interesting point.I do wonder if the back 4 next season will be Spillane, Askou, Whitbread, Drury.[/quote]

Ouch - that back 4 really does not read well at champs level.  Whitbread is untested for us even at league one level,  Drury will start to feel his age soon and its a level above where spillane has ever performed well.  The weakest of the 4 is askou who I am sure will struggle painfully at champs level;  too many bloomers in the air,  not enough pace poor distribution and dodgy positioning will see him quickly exposed.  He is solid and capable at league one level where so much is aerial.   He is far ahead of Nelson I agree,  but well behind doc.

On Doc is says that the is a option of another year on the contract - does that mean he can enforce that or does it only apply if we want to honour it?  I dont know how those extentions work.  But if he can stay on the current terms then I suspect that will financially be to Docs benefit in which case PL will decide whether to to play him or not.  I too suspecty he will not be at the club next year.

 

  

[Joanna Grey 0]

[quote user="kentcanary"]Interesting point.I do wonder if the back 4 next season will be Spillane, Askou, Whitbread, Drury.None of these played last saturday. The defense still concerns me and has been helped out by Forster and poor finishing in recent games.If we are in the Championship we will be punished.At the moment a team on a run like ours is not going to be changed much.[/quote]

Question: In a fantasy world how would this season''s 1st team fare against last season''s 1st team?

[Lambert is King 0]

I am ready for the abuse when I say the stats show ( ignoring the Colchester game ) When Nelson and Doc are in the team we concede very few goals ( 3 in the last 8 games ) , with Askou in the team we concede lots of goals. I think Askou is only on a onne year contract.

My view after saying this is that if we are going to challenge in the championship we will need to buy a centre half. If we are going to consolidate we may well go with what we have - dont forget we havent got lots of cash. We will only know what PL thinks the best 2 are when they are all fully fit. If Askou was fit now would PL drop Nelson or Doc? . He certainly hasnt dropped either to put a fully fit Whitbread in.

[smooth 114]

I think the question is if we do go up, which is looking good at the moment... where do we think we will be with this team, with the level of investment we have. I do not buy that by going up our income will dramatically change in regard to spending power in buying players.

If we go up I expect lower mid table but just staying up is my aim for next year, in a division full of highly invested teams.

Therefore I am prepared say that altho the doc has been good this year and a better player in our poor team of the last few years. His wages maybe low, but I would want another young player who is improving maybe brought in. Whitbread will only improve with games and I think he is ready, askou for one season and nelson for me is ok if we are realistic and believe our aim is staying up

If the Doc does stay I however can understand, but only in regard to, as it is trying to keep the team spirit together. But the option of the 1 year is all he gets to keep us up one year... I think someone will offer him more after this season and we will look for possibly a younger improving centre half who is again probably playing week in week out

in regard to nelson, yes he will be found out but with a longer contract and probably no interest in him I am sure he will be here next season

[a1canary 0]

[quote user="Nexus_Canary"][quote user="a1canary"]brilliantly as he has done of late, i can''t help thinking the doc''s contract situation will mirror that of hucks when he left.

he''s a high earner and PL may well think he can get by without him and use the money better.

i hope the club handle it better, but i don''t suppose there''d be the same uproar. although he''s been a great servant.[/quote]Cant begrudge the guy a great season so far but comparing him with Huckerby is frankly not even the same ball game.

Sorry, who is comparing Huckerby to the Doc? I said the CONTRACT situation could be similar. Jeez, talk about chinese whispers!!