Captain gone

Anything yellow and blue
Boogie
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Captain gone

Post by Boogie »

At this rate, I won't recognise half the team when I go to the friendly v Leicester.

Think this is a step towards building for the future but rumours elsewhere that Callum is off too, possibly to Derby?
OUFC4eva
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Re: Captain gone

Post by OUFC4eva »

Wright has signed for his old mucker at Sheffield United
and gets a 2 year deal. Great move for him:

http://www.sufc.co.uk/news/article/2016 ... 77052.aspx
Jimski
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Re: Captain gone

Post by Jimski »

Hylton and Wright both gone (along with the less avoidable departure of Roofe) has made me feel quite despondent. Hopefully we start the season well, to cure me of this.
ty cobb
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Re: Captain gone

Post by ty cobb »

I do find this a bit strange - 2 key defenders of a promotion winning team gone, to be replaced by defenders of teams who didn't win promotion. In the manager we trust but I do worry we're heading the same way as when we last got promoted - i.e. all that momentum is gone because we're building a new team.

Jake offered so much on and off the pitch and as a left sided player I think we will miss him more than some fans would suggest - 2 years at a bigger club would suggest he had an awful lot to offer still.
OUFC4eva
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Re: Captain gone

Post by OUFC4eva »

Image

Thanks Jake and best wishes!
GodalmingYellow
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Re: Captain gone

Post by GodalmingYellow »

I'm disappointed by the release of Jake Wright. It wasn't even as if his contract had expired. This is a self inflicted wound.

That he has signed for Sheffield United, on a 2 year deal tells the story and only adds to the feeling that Appleton has made a cock up on this one.

In my view Wright was easily good enough for League 1 and had at least 2 more good seasons left in him. In the 6 years he was at OUFC, he wasn't a major sick note and led the team very well indeed.

The new central defenders had better be pretty special.
Kairdiff Exile
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Re: Captain gone

Post by Kairdiff Exile »

GodalmingYellow wrote:I'm disappointed by the release of Jake Wright. It wasn't even as if his contract had expired. This is a self inflicted wound.

That he has signed for Sheffield United, on a 2 year deal tells the story and only adds to the feeling that Appleton has made a cock up on this one.

In my view Wright was easily good enough for League 1 and had at least 2 more good seasons left in him. In the 6 years he was at OUFC, he wasn't a major sick note and led the team very well indeed.

The new central defenders had better be pretty special.
I'd tend to agree. My sense is that this will be something of a Ryan Clarke style loss - we'll only realise how much we miss Jake if/when his replacements are shown up to be "works in progress" rather than finished articles.
recordmeister
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Re: Captain gone

Post by recordmeister »

I half agree, half disagree. I would have liked to have kept hold of Jake, for all his positives in and around the club, as well as his ample ability on the pitch. However, I don't think he's a league 1 player- too short imho. There is an argument to say "why are we getting rid of a player who was part of the best defensive record in the league" but equally no one was saying that about either goalie at the end of the season- we just needed a new keeper despite our defensive record.

Defensive records arent down to one keeper or a centre back but an entire team. Even Danny Hylton cleared one or two off the line this last season...

Anyway, let's hope letting Jake go isn't another Danny Rose.
theox
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Re: Captain gone

Post by theox »

For all the complaining about letting go Clarke and, later on in the season, Rose, we still got promoted so, imho, Appleton made the correct decisions.

Wright was a solid player but always seemed to have 1 serious mistake in him per game. The higher up the leagues you go the more likely these mistakes are to get punished.

I do not know anything about Sheffield United's other centre backs but I would be surprised if Wright is a regular feature in their defence.

Of course, it is a risk replacing a defence you know works with lots of new parts but I think Appleton has proved that his player recruitment is very good.

My main concern, as highlighted by Ty, is that we are going to end up with more or less a completely different XI from the one that ended last season which, based on experience, could derail all the promotion momentum (although a lot of people associated with sports will argue that momentum is a myth anyway and all you need is quality).
recordmeister
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Re: Captain gone

Post by recordmeister »

We don't need evolution, we need revolution. We are in a totally new league, one that demands a different squad of players to the league we've just left, so I've no problem with a change in the starting X1. The key is that we retain some of the players who would be appropriate in L1, such as our two central midfield players.

The bigger issue, and something that I highlighted in a post a few months ago, is that in L2 we had a mix of Youth, L2, L1 and (in regards to Roofe and CoD), a couple of Champ level players too. We can't afford to be carrying L2 level players in L1, so we need more L1 players, and also a couple of decent players who could easily be a level above. With the exception of CoD (who knows what'll become of him if he leaves- I'd like to hope he has more ambition that Brizzle City ffs) who in the squad is a Champ (or above!) player that can really drive us into the top part of the table and give us some decent cup runs / excitement to boot. I don't know, I don't know the new payers well enough, but I do have confidence in our player recruitment at the moment. The first time I've been able to say that since the days of Denis Smith. Wow.

Also, what the f- is going on with Maguire? Does he want to be part of this club or not? I'd class him as a Champ level player but surely he needs to make his mind up about where he is going to play next season.

EDIT: Daniel Crowley. He could be one that is way above L1 standard.
SWA
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Re: Captain gone

Post by SWA »

Didn't see many complaints about letting Rose go. Absolutely no issues with that. I also had no problem with letting Ryan Clarke go. Also, I think it is the right decision to let Jake Wright go. We now have 3 top quality centre backs, and also Robbie Cundy pushing for a place.
Kernow Yellow
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Re: Captain gone

Post by Kernow Yellow »

Normally at the end of a season you let go of dead wood, squad players that weren't quite up to it. Somtimes this seems harsh as the decision is borderline (Clarke last year, Mullins this time round), but ultimately the reasoning is understandable. Whereas this year we're in danger of losing a large number of standout performers from last term - Baldock's already gone of course, Roofe, O'Dowda, Hylton and Wright. Obviously some of those were out of our hands (or too good to refuse), but Hylton and Wright were the best centre forward and centre back that we've seen at this club for years. If we were 'the best side in League 2' why do we need such a revolution? Of course if the incoming players are markedly better then all well and good, but I do think it's a risk changing so many players in the starting XI at once.

Also, this COD episode is starting to leave a nasty taste, isn't it?
SWA
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Re: Captain gone

Post by SWA »

This will all be forgotten when Matty Taylor and Chris Maguire get announced later! :mrgreen:
GodalmingYellow
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Re: Captain gone

Post by GodalmingYellow »

I don't know why there is still carping about Danny Rose. He was a mediocre L2 midfielder with a poor goal scoring record. We got rid of him and got promoted with a much better player in Lundstram.

I don't agree with the playing down of Wright. He was the best centre back at the club. Saying he had 1 mistake in him per game is daft. All players make mistakes, it is just that those made by players at the back are highlighted more because of the risk of conceding. The fact is that we have had excellent defence with Wright in the side, and we missed him badly when he was out injured and our form wobbled. On his return our form returned at least in part because of the solidity at the back.

To say that because our defensive record was good our keepers' can't have been that bad, is to ignore the multiple serious errors per game of the keepers (as opposed to the 1 per game placed at Wright's door, which I think is inaccurate anyway). If it were not for the likes of Wright, we might well have had a much worse defensive record as a result of the keepers blunders.

I'm not sure we can say Appleton's signings have been all excellent. Some have been excellent such as Lundstram and Roofe, but Hylton was signed before Appleton arrived, O'Dowda was the product of youth development before Appleton arrived, and then there are the likes of Slocombe, Bowery, Ismail, Waring, Evans, Gayle, Hoban, George Long, Hoskins, Campbell, Howard, Balmy, Morris, Gnanduillet, Jakubiak, Vassell, Barnett, Rasulo and plenty of others that didn't make the grade. His signings have been a lot more variable than some would properly acknowledge, despite having a very strong budget to play with. Then there is our new striker, who doesn't exactly have the best of records. And then there are the players Appleton has got rid of for no good reason like Constable & Wright, and players Appleton has been unable to hang on to like Hylton, Roofe, Maguire, and almost certainly O'Dowda.

I'm not being excessively critical, because Appleton has in the end done a fabulous job of getting us into L1 quickly and has got us playing perhaps the best style of football the club has seen in my lifetime, and his stock and goodwill is at a very high point. I'm just balancing out those who claim he has some god like record in the transfer market.
recordmeister
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Re: Captain gone

Post by recordmeister »

You play a good Devil's Advocate, GY.

Ultimately, it was widely acknowledged that we were the best team in L2 last season (and barring playing so many cup games may well have won the title), but it must be recognised that we're not in L2 anymore, so that fact is irrelevant.

We have a new season, and a new challenge which demands new players. Some of these will be forced (Roofe), others could have been avoided (Hylton) and some just needed going (Slocombe) but equally you can't keep a huge squad, we don't have unlimited playing budgets and there probably needs to be a one-in, one-out attitude at the club.

To massively misquote Churchill, ask not what it'll be like without Wright, ask what it'll be like with the player who comes in as a replacement.

NB: I'm sure Churchill would have supported his local club, so let's just assume he'd have said this on this forum.... ;)
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