Josh McEachran

[Indy_Bones 441]

A young player who I think could end up being one of the best midfielders in the game, and someone I think we should be looking to get in either on loan (realistic) or permanently (less realistic but with Chelsea''s new signings....)Thoughts?

[Lets be aving you! 0]

May end up being good, but Hughton''s transfer budget is likely to be spent on the defence and at least one striker (probably 2 if Holt goes).

 

Our midfield is already our strong suit, and will be very strong if Butterfield signs.

[Yellowbeagle 0]

I''m sure he''ll be a very good player, but has to get games under his belt, probably at Championship level. Looked physically out of his depth when playing for  Swansea at premiership level. If we sign Butterfield who i think is an attacking midfielder, then have Howson and Hoolahan then i dont see how he would get in our side.

[Yellow Wal 314]

[quote user="Indy_Bones"]A young player who I think could end up being one of the best midfielders in the game, and someone I think we should be looking to get in either on loan (realistic) or permanently (less realistic but with Chelsea''s new signings....)Thoughts?[/quote]

Please not another loan player.

I am fed up with seeing the lower clubs in the Premiership used as a development tool of the richest clubs in the country.

Think about it. We loan him, we pay a large proportion, if not all, of his wages, we coach him, we train him, we raise his profile, we give him exposure, we give him experience, we have him as an integral part of our team ............ and then they take him back.

If at this time they decide to sell him it probably wouldn''t be to us as we probably would have doubled his value. Look what has happened with Naughton.

Let''s train OUR players, coach OUR players, give experience to OUR players, raise the profile of OUR players and raise the value of OUR players and stop being used by the rich.

[Yellow Wal 314]

............. but he is a good player!

[Jim Smith 2,319]

Promising young player although didn''t do much at Swansea last season.

Main  thoughts though are that we don;t need any more midfielders of that type, especially if the Butterfield rumours are true. We already have Fox, Surman, Wes, Howson, Bennett and (maybe) Butterfield as ball playing central (ish in the case of Benno) midfielders. If we are to bring in any more then I would think they need to be strong, physical defensive midfielder.

[SnakepitCanary 0]

I do agree that midfield is our strongest area but we really need a defensive midfielder and a playmaker. Maybe Butterfield is being brought in as another playmaker.

If I was manager, I''d be looking at bringing in potentially 1 or 2 full backs (including Whittaker), 1 or 2 centre backs, a defensive midfielder, playmaker, and 1 or 2 striker.

[Jim Smith 2,319]

[quote user="SnakepitCanary"]

I do agree that midfield is our strongest area but we really need a defensive midfielder and a playmaker. Maybe Butterfield is being brought in as another playmaker.

If I was manager, I''d be looking at bringing in potentially 1 or 2 full backs (including Whittaker), 1 or 2 centre backs, a defensive midfielder, playmaker, and 1 or 2 striker.

[/quote]

 

Not sure we need any more play makers to be hones. If, as expected, Butterfield does sign then we will arguably have 3 players in him, Howson and Wes who you could ast in the role of "playmaker" as well as Fox who also makes us tick. Going to be massive competition for places in central midfield next season.

[Indy_Bones 441]

My logic here is fairly simple.

Wes plays behind the front man/men, as would likely Butterfield if he signs.

Johnson is very much defensive, with Fox in a similar role but with better passing but not as strong.

Outside of this we have Howson and occasionally Surman (although he''s more left sided).So in essence, we''ve arguably only got Howson who plays the role in the centre that isn''t defensive or behind a front man, therefore Josh would provide competition here, and would also give us more options if we want to play 3 central midfielders.Let''s also not forget that Wes isn''t getting any younger, and if Butterfield is his expected long term replacement, we again need cover for him going forwards.I''d be highly tempted to make a cheeky offer to Chelsea to see if a sensible deal is an option, because so far no-one at their club has really given him a chance, and when you''re signing players like Marin and Hazard - he isn''t going to get a game anytime in the near future, so a few mil would probably get him in.

[The Chirp 0]

Not good enough at the moment. Didn''t get a look in at Swansea and at times was training in their reserves. Needs a season in the Championship.

[Indy_Bones 441]

[quote user="The Chirp"]Not good enough at the moment. Didn''t get a look in at Swansea and at times was training in their reserves. Needs a season in the Championship.[/quote]The problem is that by that stage his value could have increased to a level we can''t/won''t pay, much as how it appears to have done with Naughton.He has to be seen as a longer term prospect who could be given game time in cups etc or maybe even loaned out from us to a CCC side, so that WE get the benefits later instead of the likes of Chelsea.They were happy to dump people like Sinclair, so there''s a chance a deal could be done, and I''d rather spent 2-3 mil on someone like McEachran who has massive potential, than a similar amount on a premiership journeyman who just about adds to the squad but doesn''t offer much else.

[Yellow Wal 314]

Fully agree.

[GJP 79]

I think it''s worth comparing him with someone like Jack Wilshere when he was at the same kind of age (not that there is much between them anyway). Wilshere looked much more the part.

 

Infact, go back a few years and Jonny Howson looked more at home in the senior ranks than McEachran does.

 

He''s obviously got a bit of potential but for someone as "highly rated" as he is he will need to start making the step up fairly soon.

 

I suspect he won''t quite live up to the hype.

[Indy_Bones 441]

Some fair points GJP, but there''s a key difference here - Wilshere and Howson have been given playing time either in the first team or on loan - McEachran hasn''t (Even when loaned Swansea didn''t really use him), and this has slowed his development down to a degree.I''d argue that this makes it the ideal time to make a bid, and I''m sure that given more chances under a strong manager we could see his potential in it''s fullest.

[Yellow Wal 314]

Oh to have the high quality Reserve league back!

[Lavanche 0]

Not to mention that if McEachran would be equal prospect with Wilshire in gametime and developement wise, we could never afford him.

Now there is slim chance that Chelsea would cash him.

But I kind a agree with some of you, that we dont really need him, if Butterfield signs and we should at least first fill the places in our back four and get a new winger on right before trying to sign him.

Anyway we could always try our luck to lure him out of Chelsea with small bid. Doubt they would take it thought. Ofc we could try to give them buyback option with nicely increased price in few years. Big teams are more willing to sell their prospects with it. But I''m very doubtful McEachran''s name never gets to Hughton''s ears or mind.

Heh still always nice to speculate ^^

[GJP 79]

[quote user="Indy_Bones"]Some fair points GJP, but there''s a key difference here - Wilshere and Howson have been given playing time either in the first team or on loan - McEachran hasn''t (Even when loaned Swansea didn''t really use him), and this has slowed his development down to a degree.

I''d argue that this makes it the ideal time to make a bid, and I''m sure that given more chances under a strong manager we could see his potential in it''s fullest.
[/quote]

But you''d guess that the reason he hasn''t had the game time is because he doesn''t show enough in training to suggest he can offer an improvement on players already in the team.

 

He needs to get some first team football soon and at the moment it doesn''t look like you could trust him to play regularly in the Prem. You''d think it''d make sense for Chelsea to loan to the Champs and see where he''s at a year from now.

[Gingerpele 0]

I don''t think McEachran is worth the loan spot or the money for a permanent transfer.

He could turn out to be fantastic, but that kind of claim doesn''t mean much these days until it happens (we already have a striker who was as good, or potentially better than Rooney just a few years ago...).

Surman is good, Howson is good. Fox is good, Johnson has been good in patches (was very impressed with him alongside Howson). We have four CMs, its probably our strongest area at the moment. Then you add Pilks, Bennett and Hoolahan to the mid. Most mid 20s, so still improving, and after a whole premiership season I reckon they can all be ever better next season.

But we have lost 2 FBs and a CB who many suggest was our best. We''ve replaced on a free, but even if we only lost Naughton, i''m sure Lambert and now Hughton would have identified the defence as the area in need of improvement. We let in loads of goals. I don''t know if it finished this was, but at one point only the top 6 had scored more than us, yet we were on a negative goal difference.

Also we only have two out and out wingers. If a straight 4-4-2 with wingers is going to be Hughton''s preferred system we need at least one decent winger to compete with Pilkiington and Bennett.

McEachran didn''t even play that much for Swansea, I just think we have much more vital areas to improve on first. Especially if this Butterfield guy is going to be joining us as well.