A winger

[highweekgull]

Obviously we have to sign goalies but I'm also concerned about our lack if good wingers

We need two players who can open up defences like Robinson & Tomlin (when he played there) dud at the end of the season

Danny isn't good enough and hopefully Billy and Zebs will be playing up front

I'm guessing if Mansell & Russell are playing centre mid then Eunan might be playing wide but are there any others on the horizon?

[knh316]

afraid not.........at least not yet

[passatgull]

no news on anyone let alone a winger
posted a week ago about pushing the transfer panic button,think i might as well push it
not past caring yet,but im close

[nicktufc]

I think we'll be fine, i would be concerned this time next week if there are no new signings announced. But i reckon we'll see a few players sign this week.

[ROI2Gull]

Phil Ifil any good ?

Saw on another site that Dagenham have release him.

[Alpine Joe]

I'm far from sure that Danny Stevens best position is as an orthodox winger,constantly trying to get to the byline in order to cross into the box.
A more conventional winger delivering crosses may have been more important in the days of Tim Sills, or again if we happen to sign a particularly good header of the ball.

Our need for a winger will be dependent on what type of strike force we put out. I don't think Billy Kee ever leaves the ground by more than a couple of inches when he jumps - I'll let you draw your own conclusions as to why that might be.

As far as being a threat in the air goes, last season that came mainly from Branston, Robertson & Ellis. From corners & free kicks. If we intend playing with a Sills type target man then a conventional winger would be a big help, but if not then I don't see a winger as a priority.

[Trojan 67]

No worries from me yet, our first pre-season friendly is two and a bit weeks away, so plenty of time to get players in.

[doogull]

if you remember or promotion season with leroy then we didn't really play a wide game as we had a very creative midfield without the need for any out and out wingers as such which is what belive is what will happen again, I love real wingers but maybe just maybe we will go down the solid route and play a more fluid incisive passing game which would suit our current players and frontline.

[ferrarilover]

I'm with you Troj, absolutely no need to start even worrying for a little over a week yet.

I know that's not the intention of the OP, but it's the way the thread has gone.

Back on topic, and I find myself questioning the decision to put Eunan on the wing. He is much more effective in the middle. With JOastler at the back and Zedders up front in a 4-4-2, we could have Manse and Eunan in the middle with Mr X and Mr Y on the wings. I'm not convinced that ARuss will be playing all that often, so I guess that won't be a selection issue we'll be faced with all too often.

Matt.

[the_shredder]

Although Zebs knows how to score a goal, personally i prefer him as a winger/attacking mid as he also knows how to run at people and scoring from midfield is a necessity in any team wanting to be in the top third of the table.

I too though grow a bit concerned with, not just the lack of signings so far, but more the opinion that it is best to "wait to get the right people" my albeit uneducated opinion would be that the vast majority of good players will have people chasing their signatures from the minute the transfer window opened, so considering we already started from the pit lane so to speak, every week that passes by is a lot of options removed to choose from surely. Seeing the list of confirmed transfers on the other thread proves this.

That's not to say we won't end up with a good squad though, i'm not writing anything off, just stating what appears to be obvious that we now have less "pies" to "put our fingers in" ;P

[tufcbrett]

I'm with you Troj, absolutely no need to start even worrying for a little over a week yet.

I know that's not the intention of the OP, but it's the way the thread has gone.

Back on topic, and I find myself questioning the decision to put Eunan on the wing. He is much more effective in the middle. With JOastler at the back and Zedders up front in a 4-4-2, we could have Manse and Eunan in the middle with Mr X and Mr Y on the wings. I'm not convinced that ARuss will be playing all that often, so I guess that won't be a selection issue we'll be faced with all too often.

Matt.

There are certainly a few options. Damon would also be good in the centre with Eunan, with more games he will get better and better. He has some real talent and would like to see him have more of a role this season to.

Regarding the wingers i would like to Zebs up top inless we got some good strikers in, the zebs could be dangerous on the wing like the post above says he can score goal and beat people on the wings. The young lads Halpin, Macklin and stevens may have more of a role this season as cover but would like to see macklin or halpin on loan somehwere for a few months to get some first team football. We still need 2/3 wingers and 2 strikers for me along with the keepers and defenders if our budget can cut that far.

Im sure Mr Ling has many targets, and can see oastler and one or two others signing this week.

[Trojan 67]

Nobody knows for sure yet how the team will line up. Dinger is on record as favouring "4-4-2".

All systems should both flow and be flexible.

In old programmes, the line up in print was "2-3-2-3" (2 fullbacks, 3 halfbacks, 2 inside forwards and 3 forwards).

In reality it was "3-4-3" with the 4 in the middle set as the "diamond" with one wing half in the "holding role" and one inside forward "in the hole".

For me, I loved "3-5-2" going forward and "5-3-2" when defending.

[highweekgull]

Based on what Ling has said already I won't be surprised to see us line up as...

4-3-3
4-5-1
3-5-2

...on occasions, which i think is great.

Just sometimes you need players who can go past defenders on the wing - witness Nicko's torrid time in the play off final...

[Gulliball]

Really, I think we need a few wingers as it's an area we're weak in.

Halpin and Macklin are fine as 3rd and 4th options as they're young and have potential to grow as they learn more with first team football. Coming off the bench they're pacy and dangerous too.

With Ling's 2 players for every position policy, then ideally we'd have two new signings as first choice wingers. If Zebroski was one, then great but he's been more up front recently and may well be off anyway. I don't see Danny as a regular first choice winger, and O'Kane should be in the middle.

If we only sign one, then unless Zebroski is on the other or one of Stevens/Macklin/Halpin turn in regular good performances (unlikely given their ages, and in Danny's case based on the last 4 years), then it's an area I think will be our weakest.

[Regiment]

having played out wide myself, and grown up in a generation where i feel the typical "winger" has been slightly phased out of the game in favour of wide midfield players, i'd desperately like to see us with a couple of out and out wingers on the books, but it really depends on the style of play that ling will employ. to me, having typical wingers available is a good thing, but if you look at the top sides, there are not too many that play with wingers. and if they do, they often suffer defensively as a result, e.g Tottenham (Bale & Lennon), Villa (Young & Downing) etc. I know there are exceptions to that rule, but i'm just saying you can't throw a couple of attacking wingers in without shaping the rest of the team accordingly.

and then you have to consider who will benefit from having wingers, and at the moment, i don't think our attacking options would be suited to wing play, crosses into the box. When we had Benyon, and even Zebba and Tomlin, those players make their runs into the channels, working out wide, and are not the sort of players busting a gut to get in the box to get on the end of a cross.

Wingers need good full backs behind them. Nico is a good player, maybe a bit short of pace, but positionally good and reads play well, but as we know, we don't have a right back at all, which we hope is being addressed of course.

Either way, i think we will need better wide midfield/wing options than Danny and Lloyd. Both are still learning and may come good, but we need a bit more right now.