Reply With QuoteTrueOriginally Posted by the other bob wilson
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I thought that was a bit bizzare too. When those 4 played together toward the end of the season they did well against the likes of Man City, Liverpool , Chelsea and United.
I wouldn’t expect Brentford and Forest to rip them apart
True
If Vaulks gets injured we’ll have no creativity in the middle of the park.
If we are forced to start with Ralls and Bacuna, apart from being a rather uninspiring central pairing as it is, we’d be unable to replace them with a natural central midfielder if they were underperforming.... as things stand.
The worrying thing for me is that there don’t even seem to be any noises from the press suggesting we are looking for another addition in that area of the park.
Holtby would be great but that seems to have gone a bit quiet. Someone of that quality/pedigree would be exactly what we’d need.
Holtby has gone more than quiet. Wales Online say 'no chance' - and they know stuff!
I'm not too disappointed that the Holtby rumour has died. There is every chance that he has gone backwards since he made his name with Spurs (and then almost unmade it with Fulham).
And Loic Damour has apparently got another year - and he was quite good in the first half of the promotion season, although then faded.
Unless Tomlin lives up to the noises he's been making pre season
I still believe in Father Christmas.
Has Manga signed or is he in talks to sign a new contract?
If it's up to potential, then:
Etheridge; Peltier, Manga, Bamba, Bennett; Vaulks, Tomlin; Hoilett, Reid, Mendez-Laing; Zohore
For me, of that starting lineup, the jury is out on Bamba, Tomlin and Zohore. All 3 when on song are our best options in those positions. Tomlin has made positive noises during the summer and deserves consideration. Bamba is prone to the odd error and Morrison should offer more goals. We'll see if Warnock is right about Nelson.
As for Zohore, his failure to turn up last season was a part of the reason for our relegation, in that Warnock was clearly hoping for a good season from him and didn't bring in someone else last summer. He has the most potential up front for us but is the one I least expect to deliver. One purple patch well over 2 seasons ago puts him on last chance saloon. I'd rather start with Paterson, a player we signed as a right back who is better in the air than Zohore, outmuscled less often than him, works harder than him, is better in the opposition penalty area than him, did far better than him in the Premier League than him and has a better goalscoring rate in the Championship than him. Ideal? Hardly. Should that be embarrassing for Zohore? Absolutely.
I'd be absolutely amazed if Neil Warnock goes for something like Vaulks and Tomlin in midfield with Decordova-Reid as a number ten or vice versa. If we're going to fit the two players we signed from the wurzels into the same team as well as a big target man, then I'm pretty sure it would be one of the wingers who would make way rather than one of his "bread and butter" midfielders (i.e. Ralls). Having a fit and committed Tomlin available has to be good news, but he needs to earn his place by showing that he can influence games like he used to at Peterborough and Middlesbrough - I think it's more likely our manager will go with his usual formation at Cardiff, 4-2-3-1, with Tomlin on the bench.
I 100% agree that's what Warnock would do. The question in the OP was potential, but it leads to further interest. It would be a waste of time playing Tomlin in midfield, for example, as he'd be frustrated at the ball going over his head most of the time. An in form Tomlin should be streets ahead of Ralls, albeit in a slightly different role, but Ralls is much more of a Warnock player.
Ralls and Vaulks will start when fit.
Up and down midfielders who can play it simple.
Ralls will be excellent as he was last time we were at this level.
Those 2 will do the hard work to allow us to play 3 creative players out of Reid, Hoillet, Murphy, Tomlin and NML and a striker.. where we can currently choose from Zohore, Bogle, Ward, Madine and Healey.
At the moment our squad if anything looks overloaded in some areas and I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t see anyone come in until one or 2 leave
Etheridge
-------Bamba Morrison Manga
NML Ralls Vaulks Hoilett/Murphy
----------Reid-----Tomlin
----------Paterson/Zohore
That's one way to get both in
There are so many options. I am not saying this should be the team but could see NW playing it.
Etheridge
Peltier Manga Morrison Bennett
Bamba
Ralls Vaulks Reid Hoilett
Zohore or Paterson
The fact that Tomlin and Damour have been away from the first team for so long would pit them in the “ under 23 squad / unexpected return to form occasional game” type player. Not someone to base your midfield on for a 40 plus game season.....unless Warnock knows something the rest of us don’t.
Manga had a extra year triggered, as did Richards.
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