Hunt out.

[SouthDownsRoyal]

Let’s just relegate ourselves to the conference why not

[Hound]

I just think of course our players aren't as good as Bindon, Mbengue, Knibbs, Smith and Azeez, who are all playing at a higher level for a reason.

But do they match them for potential compared to 2 years ago? Obvious example - Lane is a similar age to Knibbs when we signed him, and already has a L1 season under his belt with double figures goals and assists. We should be able to help him develop like we did Knibbs. Kyerewaa is raw, quick without composure and end product but works hard, like Azeez was. Burns has come out of the City academy, looks decent on the ball and has >50 EFL appearances under his belt. He potentially has a higher ceiling than O'Connor and Williams and is definitely ahead of where Bindon was 2 years ago, but looks like a liability in this team. O'Mahony had a promising loan at Portsmouth in the Championship and has dominated the PL U21s league; we held off a lot of competition to sign him. But he looks lost.

But we say the squad isn't as good as last year and experienced players are injured. Well I'm calling bullshit. It's the nature of L1 to lose your best players, and the coaching staff's job is to develop new ones, which we're failing miserably in. Clubs like Wimbledon, Bradford and Stevenage don't have as squads as good as ours on paper, but they are better teams due to better coaching.

I’ll throw a suggestion out that maybe some of our ‘best’ players from last year or 2 weren’t actually that special and good coaching and tactics made them look good

Bindon is perma-benched, Knibbs and Smith get a few mins at the end of the game. Abbey went nowhere. Vickers is back in L1. Holmes and McIntyre went nowhere and back in L1. Harris at Tranmere on loan

Mbengue has done pretty well tbf but Paudie should cover him at this level . Azeez is now but took him a long time

[MR. CYNICAL]

I just think of course our players aren't as good as Bindon, Mbengue, Knibbs, Smith and Azeez, who are all playing at a higher level for a reason.

But do they match them for potential compared to 2 years ago? Obvious example - Lane is a similar age to Knibbs when we signed him, and already has a L1 season under his belt with double figures goals and assists. We should be able to help him develop like we did Knibbs. Kyerewaa is raw, quick without composure and end product but works hard, like Azeez was. Burns has come out of the City academy, looks decent on the ball and has >50 EFL appearances under his belt. He potentially has a higher ceiling than O'Connor and Williams and is definitely ahead of where Bindon was 2 years ago, but looks like a liability in this team. O'Mahony had a promising loan at Portsmouth in the Championship and has dominated the PL U21s league; we held off a lot of competition to sign him. But he looks lost.

But we say the squad isn't as good as last year and experienced players are injured. Well I'm calling bullshit. It's the nature of L1 to lose your best players, and the coaching staff's job is to develop new ones, which we're failing miserably in. Clubs like Wimbledon, Bradford and Stevenage don't have as squads as good as ours on paper, but they are better teams due to better coaching.

How can you say Burns is ahead of where Bindon was 2 years ago?
You say he looks a liability in the team, Bindon was never that and looked class from day one.

[WestYorksRoyal]

I just think of course our players aren't as good as Bindon, Mbengue, Knibbs, Smith and Azeez, who are all playing at a higher level for a reason.

But do they match them for potential compared to 2 years ago? Obvious example - Lane is a similar age to Knibbs when we signed him, and already has a L1 season under his belt with double figures goals and assists. We should be able to help him develop like we did Knibbs. Kyerewaa is raw, quick without composure and end product but works hard, like Azeez was. Burns has come out of the City academy, looks decent on the ball and has >50 EFL appearances under his belt. He potentially has a higher ceiling than O'Connor and Williams and is definitely ahead of where Bindon was 2 years ago, but looks like a liability in this team. O'Mahony had a promising loan at Portsmouth in the Championship and has dominated the PL U21s league; we held off a lot of competition to sign him. But he looks lost.

But we say the squad isn't as good as last year and experienced players are injured. Well I'm calling bullshit. It's the nature of L1 to lose your best players, and the coaching staff's job is to develop new ones, which we're failing miserably in. Clubs like Wimbledon, Bradford and Stevenage don't have as squads as good as ours on paper, but they are better teams due to better coaching.

How can you say Burns is ahead of where Bindon was 2 years ago?
You say he looks a liability in the team, Bindon was never that and looked class from day one.

He was out of position at RB and looked unconvincing. Even at CB, he got dominated by Rhodes at Blackpool and had a costly poor game at home to Barnsley. He learned quickly and it became clear pretty quickly he was destined for a higher level. But there were bumps in the road.

[MR. CYNICAL]

I just think of course our players aren't as good as Bindon, Mbengue, Knibbs, Smith and Azeez, who are all playing at a higher level for a reason.

But do they match them for potential compared to 2 years ago? Obvious example - Lane is a similar age to Knibbs when we signed him, and already has a L1 season under his belt with double figures goals and assists. We should be able to help him develop like we did Knibbs. Kyerewaa is raw, quick without composure and end product but works hard, like Azeez was. Burns has come out of the City academy, looks decent on the ball and has >50 EFL appearances under his belt. He potentially has a higher ceiling than O'Connor and Williams and is definitely ahead of where Bindon was 2 years ago, but looks like a liability in this team. O'Mahony had a promising loan at Portsmouth in the Championship and has dominated the PL U21s league; we held off a lot of competition to sign him. But he looks lost.

But we say the squad isn't as good as last year and experienced players are injured. Well I'm calling bullshit. It's the nature of L1 to lose your best players, and the coaching staff's job is to develop new ones, which we're failing miserably in. Clubs like Wimbledon, Bradford and Stevenage don't have as squads as good as ours on paper, but they are better teams due to better coaching.

How can you say Burns is ahead of where Bindon was 2 years ago?
You say he looks a liability in the team, Bindon was never that and looked class from day one.

He was out of position at RB and looked unconvincing. Even at CB, he got dominated by Rhodes at Blackpool and had a costly poor game at home to Barnsley. He learned quickly and it became clear pretty quickly he was destined for a higher level. But there were bumps in the road.

Maybe so, he started at centre back but for some reason Selles decided to play him at right back for a few games where admittedly he looked uncomfortable, but I'd prefer him to Burns any day.

[WestYorksRoyal]

How can you say Burns is ahead of where Bindon was 2 years ago?
You say he looks a liability in the team, Bindon was never that and looked class from day one.

He was out of position at RB and looked unconvincing. Even at CB, he got dominated by Rhodes at Blackpool and had a costly poor game at home to Barnsley. He learned quickly and it became clear pretty quickly he was destined for a higher level. But there were bumps in the road.

Maybe so, he started at centre back but for some reason Selles decided to play him at right back for a few games where admittedly he looked uncomfortable, but I'd prefer him to Burns any day.

Of course I'd prefer the Bindon who left us this summer to Burns; I'd prefer him to any of our CBs and indeed any CB in L1. But it wasn't always obvious he was at that level - I'm not convinced he was this time 2 years ago. Abbey was higher rated by a lot of fans initially.

[MR. CYNICAL]

He was out of position at RB and looked unconvincing. Even at CB, he got dominated by Rhodes at Blackpool and had a costly poor game at home to Barnsley. He learned quickly and it became clear pretty quickly he was destined for a higher level. But there were bumps in the road.

Maybe so, he started at centre back but for some reason Selles decided to play him at right back for a few games where admittedly he looked uncomfortable, but I'd prefer him to Burns any day.

Of course I'd prefer the Bindon who left us this summer to Burns; I'd prefer him to any of our CBs and indeed any CB in L1. But it wasn't always obvious he was at that level - I'm not convinced he was this time 2 years ago. Abbey was higher rated by a lot of fans initially.

To be fair, I'd forgotten about Abbey