Squad Watch 2022/23

[Nameless]

Am I right in thinking that if we exclude Moore and Puscas we have 16 first team players?

.

Depends what you mean by ‘first team player’.
I think we have 17 who count towards our 25 man squad but we have plenty of players who will be part of the squad but don’t count as ‘permitted players’ because they haven’t started 3 games at championship level. So Clarke, Andresson, Dorsett, Melvin-Lambert, Camara, Scott, Abrefa and others boost that 17 squad quite a lot.

[blythspartan]

Am I right in thinking that if we exclude Moore and Puscas we have 16 first team players?

.

Depends what you mean by ‘first team player’.
I think we have 17 who count towards our 25 man squad but we have plenty of players who will be part of the squad but don’t count as ‘permitted players’ because they haven’t started 3 games at championship level. So Clarke, Andresson, Dorsett, Melvin-Lambert, Camara, Scott, Abrefa and others boost that 17 squad quite a lot.

Cheers, I was thinking of the players that would count towards our 25 man squad. I think we need about 20-22.

[Nameless]

Am I right in thinking that if we exclude Moore and Puscas we have 16 first team players?

.

Depends what you mean by ‘first team player’.
I think we have 17 who count towards our 25 man squad but we have plenty of players who will be part of the squad but don’t count as ‘permitted players’ because they haven’t started 3 games at championship level. So Clarke, Andresson, Dorsett, Melvin-Lambert, Camara, Scott, Abrefa and others boost that 17 squad quite a lot.

Cheers, I was thinking of the players that would count towards our 25 man squad. I think we need about 20-22.

I think that’s about what we are looking at when you consider the players ‘heavily’ linked.
Puscas seems to be pretty much gone but we’ll have to carry Moore for at least the first half of the season I suspect.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

Am I right in thinking that if we exclude Moore and Puscas we have 16 first team players?

.

Depends what you mean by ‘first team player’.
I think we have 17 who count towards our 25 man squad but we have plenty of players who will be part of the squad but don’t count as ‘permitted players’ because they haven’t started 3 games at championship level. So Clarke, Andresson, Dorsett, Melvin-Lambert, Camara, Scott, Abrefa and others boost that 17 squad quite a lot.

Cheers, I was thinking of the players that would count towards our 25 man squad. I think we need about 20-22.

Yeah I'd agree, we can supplement the rest with players coming through the U23's who may be worth keeping around the first team squad and competing for the matchday squad as well, probably the 3 for me so far would be Camara, Clarke and Dorsett out of the lot. Players like Andresson, Melvin-Lambert, Scott and Abrefa aren't too far behind though either.

I don't want our squad to be filled up with U23 players though just to make up numbers, I'd rather just have a couple that are capable of holding their own at this level rather than filling our squad with could be's.

[Stranded]

I think we got a decent view of who may be pushing for bench places, at least early season, on Saturday. Leavy looks like a decent option, Clarke would be good but given he is new to the club he would take up a squad place if he plays.

Unless we do sign Guinness-Walker then I think the starting XI we saw will likely be how we go at Blackpool, so Bouzanis, Long, Meite, Azeez, Tetek on the bench with the other spots open for the Academy lads.

[Nameless]

Depends what you mean by ‘first team player’.
I think we have 17 who count towards our 25 man squad but we have plenty of players who will be part of the squad but don’t count as ‘permitted players’ because they haven’t started 3 games at championship level. So Clarke, Andresson, Dorsett, Melvin-Lambert, Camara, Scott, Abrefa and others boost that 17 squad quite a lot.

Cheers, I was thinking of the players that would count towards our 25 man squad. I think we need about 20-22.

Yeah I'd agree, we can supplement the rest with players coming through the U23's who may be worth keeping around the first team squad and competing for the matchday squad as well, probably the 3 for me so far would be Camara, Clarke and Dorsett out of the lot. Players like Andresson, Melvin-Lambert, Scott and Abrefa aren't too far behind though either.

I don't want our squad to be filled up with U23 players though just to make up numbers, I'd rather just have a couple that are capable of holding their own at this level rather than filling our squad with could be's.

You also need to consider the salary cap. The youngsters will probably be on lower wages than older players so it will be a balancing act. It’s not like we would be using 16-17 year olds. A lot of our youngsters were around the first team last year or have had decent loan experience. Perfectly good to provide backup and squad depth.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

Cheers, I was thinking of the players that would count towards our 25 man squad. I think we need about 20-22.

Yeah I'd agree, we can supplement the rest with players coming through the U23's who may be worth keeping around the first team squad and competing for the matchday squad as well, probably the 3 for me so far would be Camara, Clarke and Dorsett out of the lot. Players like Andresson, Melvin-Lambert, Scott and Abrefa aren't too far behind though either.

I don't want our squad to be filled up with U23 players though just to make up numbers, I'd rather just have a couple that are capable of holding their own at this level rather than filling our squad with could be's.

You also need to consider the salary cap. The youngsters will probably be on lower wages than older players so it will be a balancing act. It’s not like we would be using 16-17 year olds. A lot of our youngsters were around the first team last year or have had decent loan experience. Perfectly good to provide backup and squad depth.

Yeah that's true, it may end up being that we will need to use 4/5 for a 25 man squad, I just don't want to become too reliant on youngsters that probably aren't at this level yet. Obviously we aren't in that ideal scenario given our restrictions this season though.

[Nameless]

Yeah I'd agree, we can supplement the rest with players coming through the U23's who may be worth keeping around the first team squad and competing for the matchday squad as well, probably the 3 for me so far would be Camara, Clarke and Dorsett out of the lot. Players like Andresson, Melvin-Lambert, Scott and Abrefa aren't too far behind though either.

I don't want our squad to be filled up with U23 players though just to make up numbers, I'd rather just have a couple that are capable of holding their own at this level rather than filling our squad with could be's.

You also need to consider the salary cap. The youngsters will probably be on lower wages than older players so it will be a balancing act. It’s not like we would be using 16-17 year olds. A lot of our youngsters were around the first team last year or have had decent loan experience. Perfectly good to provide backup and squad depth.

Yeah that's true, it may end up being that we will need to use 4/5 for a 25 man squad, I just don't want to become too reliant on youngsters that probably aren't at this level yet. Obviously we aren't in that ideal scenario given our restrictions this season though.

If we have 20 ‘permitted’ players we will have a first team squad of around 30

[YorkshireRoyal99]

You also need to consider the salary cap. The youngsters will probably be on lower wages than older players so it will be a balancing act. It’s not like we would be using 16-17 year olds. A lot of our youngsters were around the first team last year or have had decent loan experience. Perfectly good to provide backup and squad depth.

Yeah that's true, it may end up being that we will need to use 4/5 for a 25 man squad, I just don't want to become too reliant on youngsters that probably aren't at this level yet. Obviously we aren't in that ideal scenario given our restrictions this season though.

If we have 20 ‘permitted’ players we will have a first team squad of around 30

Yeah that's training though, quite a few won't be seriously involved unless we suffer another injury crisis next season I don't think, such as Andresson, Melvin-Lambert and possibly Abrefa as well. Dorsett, Camara and Clarke I'd imagine may be used in the matchday squads more than the others, as they seem more likely to be ready for more first tam involvement at this stage as well.

[Nameless]

Yeah that's true, it may end up being that we will need to use 4/5 for a 25 man squad, I just don't want to become too reliant on youngsters that probably aren't at this level yet. Obviously we aren't in that ideal scenario given our restrictions this season though.

If we have 20 ‘permitted’ players we will have a first team squad of around 30

Yeah that's training though, quite a few won't be seriously involved unless we suffer another injury crisis next season I don't think, such as Andresson, Melvin-Lambert and possibly Abrefa as well. Dorsett, Camara and Clarke I'd imagine may be used in the matchday squads more than the others, as they seem more likely to be ready for more first tam involvement at this stage as well.

Not sure why some of those won’t be part of the squad. Not quite sure what squad you are referring to though !

[YorkshireRoyal99]

If we have 20 ‘permitted’ players we will have a first team squad of around 30

Yeah that's training though, quite a few won't be seriously involved unless we suffer another injury crisis next season I don't think, such as Andresson, Melvin-Lambert and possibly Abrefa as well. Dorsett, Camara and Clarke I'd imagine may be used in the matchday squads more than the others, as they seem more likely to be ready for more first tam involvement at this stage as well.

Not sure why some of those won’t be part of the squad. Not quite sure what squad you are referring to though !

Matchday squad, so the 18. Yeah they will be part of first team squad training sessions I would imagine, although not sure how true that is given most stayed with the U23's when we went to St George's Park.

[Nameless]

Yeah that's training though, quite a few won't be seriously involved unless we suffer another injury crisis next season I don't think, such as Andresson, Melvin-Lambert and possibly Abrefa as well. Dorsett, Camara and Clarke I'd imagine may be used in the matchday squads more than the others, as they seem more likely to be ready for more first tam involvement at this stage as well.

Not sure why some of those won’t be part of the squad. Not quite sure what squad you are referring to though !

Matchday squad, so the 18. Yeah they will be part of first team squad training sessions I would imagine, although not sure how true that is given most stayed with the U23's when we went to St George's Park.

I think you have to assume a certain number of injuries/rotation so to sustain an 18 man match day squad you need probably 25 players (hence the restriction !). We’ll actually have more than that to chose from without having to fill the squad with imports. So a 20 strong group of ‘permitted’ players and another 10 additional players with differing levels of experience amounts to a decent looking squad. Agree that many of the younger players will play u23 (meaning we should have a stronger presence at 23 and 18 next season.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

Not sure why some of those won’t be part of the squad. Not quite sure what squad you are referring to though !

Matchday squad, so the 18. Yeah they will be part of first team squad training sessions I would imagine, although not sure how true that is given most stayed with the U23's when we went to St George's Park.

I think you have to assume a certain number of injuries/rotation so to sustain an 18 man match day squad you need probably 25 players (hence the restriction !). We’ll actually have more than that to chose from without having to fill the squad with imports. So a 20 strong group of ‘permitted’ players and another 10 additional players with differing levels of experience amounts to a decent looking squad. Agree that many of the younger players will play u23 (meaning we should have a stronger presence at 23 and 18 next season.

Yeah of course and that's what I'm saying, but just in general really. I.e. everyone fit I'd anticipate that the players I've mentioned would be closer to the matchday squad than the others, I'd imagine they are closer than the rest in the pecking order (would probably include Scott in that as well maybe as he got some fleeting appearances at the back end of last season and showed promise).

[Snowflake Royal]

Depends what you mean by ‘first team player’.
I think we have 17 who count towards our 25 man squad but we have plenty of players who will be part of the squad but don’t count as ‘permitted players’ because they haven’t started 3 games at championship level. So Clarke, Andresson, Dorsett, Melvin-Lambert, Camara, Scott, Abrefa and others boost that 17 squad quite a lot.

Cheers, I was thinking of the players that would count towards our 25 man squad. I think we need about 20-22.

Yeah I'd agree, we can supplement the rest with players coming through the U23's who may be worth keeping around the first team squad and competing for the matchday squad as well, probably the 3 for me so far would be Camara, Clarke and Dorsett out of the lot. Players like Andresson, Melvin-Lambert, Scott and Abrefa aren't too far behind though either.

I don't want our squad to be filled up with U23 players though just to make up numbers, I'd rather just have a couple that are capable of holding their own at this level rather than filling our squad with could be's.

Id far rather have the 'could be' U23 players filling up the squad than some of the shite trialists we've got rid of that you thought would be good additions.

They've shown themselves far superior to those trialists afterall.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

Cheers, I was thinking of the players that would count towards our 25 man squad. I think we need about 20-22.

Yeah I'd agree, we can supplement the rest with players coming through the U23's who may be worth keeping around the first team squad and competing for the matchday squad as well, probably the 3 for me so far would be Camara, Clarke and Dorsett out of the lot. Players like Andresson, Melvin-Lambert, Scott and Abrefa aren't too far behind though either.

I don't want our squad to be filled up with U23 players though just to make up numbers, I'd rather just have a couple that are capable of holding their own at this level rather than filling our squad with could be's.

Id far rather have the 'could be' U23 players filling up the squad than some of the shite trialists we've got rid of that you thought would be good additions.

They've shown themselves far superior to those trialists afterall.

They'd do no worse and are more experienced players. I've never said don't use any, I said don't use some because they might be good in years to come if they are not ready for this level yet. I'd rather have players with experience and quality at this level, than players who are showing promise but might not be ready yet basically.

[Nameless]

Yeah I'd agree, we can supplement the rest with players coming through the U23's who may be worth keeping around the first team squad and competing for the matchday squad as well, probably the 3 for me so far would be Camara, Clarke and Dorsett out of the lot. Players like Andresson, Melvin-Lambert, Scott and Abrefa aren't too far behind though either.

I don't want our squad to be filled up with U23 players though just to make up numbers, I'd rather just have a couple that are capable of holding their own at this level rather than filling our squad with could be's.

Id far rather have the 'could be' U23 players filling up the squad than some of the shite trialists we've got rid of that you thought would be good additions.

They've shown themselves far superior to those trialists afterall.

They'd do no worse and are more experienced players. I've never said don't use any, I said don't use some because they might be good in years to come if they are not ready for this level yet. I'd rather have players with experience and quality at this level, than players who are showing promise but might not be ready yet basically.

But that’s not considering the actual situation.
We’ve got a good set of youngsters who have already got a decent amount of experience elsewhere or have been part of the first team squad for at least a season.
Dorsett, Andresson, Melvin-Lambert have had decent loans, Clarke has half a season worth of first time games etc etc. They are playing for ‘their’ club and know that there is a path to the first team open for them because they have seen lots of players go down it.
Most of the trialists had fairly mediocre histories, their best days well behind them. I’m not convinced by Jahmari Clark yet but I’d rather have him on the bench than Wickham, I’d rather have Dorsett than Janvier and I’d rather have Scott then the Cardiff winger

[Zip]

Id far rather have the 'could be' U23 players filling up the squad than some of the shite trialists we've got rid of that you thought would be good additions.

They've shown themselves far superior to those trialists afterall.

They'd do no worse and are more experienced players. I've never said don't use any, I said don't use some because they might be good in years to come if they are not ready for this level yet. I'd rather have players with experience and quality at this level, than players who are showing promise but might not be ready yet basically.

But that’s not considering the actual situation.
We’ve got a good set of youngsters who have already got a decent amount of experience elsewhere or have been part of the first team squad for at least a season.
Dorsett, Andresson, Melvin-Lambert have had decent loans, Clarke has half a season worth of first time games etc etc. They are playing for ‘their’ club and know that there is a path to the first team open for them because they have seen lots of players go down it.
Most of the trialists had fairly mediocre histories, their best days well behind them. I’m not convinced by Jahmari Clark yet but I’d rather have him on the bench than Wickham, I’d rather have Dorsett than Janvier and I’d rather have Scott then the Cardiff winger

Yeah I agree with this

[YorkshireRoyal99]

Id far rather have the 'could be' U23 players filling up the squad than some of the shite trialists we've got rid of that you thought would be good additions.

They've shown themselves far superior to those trialists afterall.

They'd do no worse and are more experienced players. I've never said don't use any, I said don't use some because they might be good in years to come if they are not ready for this level yet. I'd rather have players with experience and quality at this level, than players who are showing promise but might not be ready yet basically.

But that’s not considering the actual situation.
We’ve got a good set of youngsters who have already got a decent amount of experience elsewhere or have been part of the first team squad for at least a season.
Dorsett, Andresson, Melvin-Lambert have had decent loans, Clarke has half a season worth of first time games etc etc. They are playing for ‘their’ club and know that there is a path to the first team open for them because they have seen lots of players go down it.
Most of the trialists had fairly mediocre histories, their best days well behind them. I’m not convinced by Jahmari Clark yet but I’d rather have him on the bench than Wickham, I’d rather have Dorsett than Janvier and I’d rather have Scott then the Cardiff winger

Your opinion differs to mine then, I'd only really agree with Clarke over Wickham but not the others. I'd like our youngsters to get as many minutes as possible, which they probably won't be doing for us this season and saying Clarke has had half a seasons worth of first team games is stretching it, 164 minutes across 12 games, so essentially he doesn't have 2 games worth of Championship experience yet.

I'd rather our youngsters go out on loan for senior football and wrack up 40 appearances a season if possible in the FL and prove their worth and work their way up that way. As you say, they will know their pathways anyway and they know we are a club who will give youth a chance, but it has to be when ready. Andresson is another I'd rather go and have another season on loan and reassess, Dorsett we could involve, but if not, a season in L1 will do him more harm than good.

I'd rather have experienced players with mediocre history as opposed to inexperienced players with very limited history. Again, that's just me personally, but I don't watch these players everyday so I can't comment on their quality as such. Obviously if Dorsett has shown more ability than Jeanvier for instance, then yes I'd rather have Dorsett, but I don't think that's the case considering he stayed with the U23's and Jeanvier was on trial and left for what seems to be personal reasons.

Not picking on Clarke particularly, but Melvin-Lambert's experience is 0 with ourselves in the Championship and 16 appearances for St Patricks in Ireland, Scott has 16 minutes of Championship experience and nothing else senior wise etc. I don't disagree that they should be given a chance to impress during pre-season where they will be playing football, but I wouldn't put them on the bench if they aren't ready yet, just because they might be ready. I'd rather have Josh Murphy who is a reasonable player with experience at this level, even if just for 12 months, for example.

Apologies for the read btw.

[mikey_1871]

Yeah I'd agree, we can supplement the rest with players coming through the U23's who may be worth keeping around the first team squad and competing for the matchday squad as well, probably the 3 for me so far would be Camara, Clarke and Dorsett out of the lot. Players like Andresson, Melvin-Lambert, Scott and Abrefa aren't too far behind though either.

I don't want our squad to be filled up with U23 players though just to make up numbers, I'd rather just have a couple that are capable of holding their own at this level rather than filling our squad with could be's.

Id far rather have the 'could be' U23 players filling up the squad than some of the shite trialists we've got rid of that you thought would be good additions.

They've shown themselves far superior to those trialists afterall.

They'd do no worse and are more experienced players. I've never said don't use any, I said don't use some because they might be good in years to come if they are not ready for this level yet. I'd rather have players with experience and quality at this level, than players who are showing promise but might not be ready yet basically.

'They'd do no worse' is surely an argument in favour of our U23s than those triallists.
No-one is advocating a team of U23s, but I'd much prefer to have players with potential, such as Clarke and Scott, on the bench than players who's best days are likely behind them. If they'd do no worse then surely you give experience to the young players with the higher ceiling?

[Sutekh]

I thought this was going to be thread about player’s timepieces and which was the favourite that would be declared the Squad Watch. I’m now disappointed and shall have to have a lie down.