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George smith departs
Posted: Tue May 10, 2022 7:26 pm
by uncovered
Thought he was a solid player to be honest, but injuries appeared to put him down the pecking order towards the end of the season.
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Re: George smith departs
Posted: Tue May 10, 2022 9:47 pm
by darloed19
Disappointed with smith leaving, solid option at LB means we have to go out now and get a replacement and use resources which could of been used on other important areas.
Re: George smith departs
Posted: Tue May 10, 2022 9:56 pm
by D_F_C
darloed19 wrote:Disappointed with smith leaving, solid option at LB means we have to go out now and get a replacement and use resources which could of been used on other important areas.
Not sure I understand the part about using resources. If we aren’t paying Smith anymore then his wage will get taken by whoever we sign as a replacement. Give or take a little, it’s like for like.
I think AA is thinking he can get better, if we want to strive for the playoffs and then we have to give it a go
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Re: George smith departs
Posted: Tue May 10, 2022 10:08 pm
by Darlo_CR
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Griffiths and Hedley as fullbacks with Hope and another youngster as back up.
Probably wiser using Smiths wage elsewhere in the team and get a young replacement for cover.
George smith departs
Posted: Wed May 11, 2022 4:45 am
by Darlogramps
Darlo_CR wrote:I wouldn’t be surprised to see Griffiths and Hedley as fullbacks with Hope and another youngster as back up.
Probably wiser using Smiths wage elsewhere in the team and get a young replacement for cover.
That would be a bit of a gamble though in my opinion. We’ve got an expanded 46-game league season, plus a minimum of two Cup/Trophy games.
To only have two senior full backs would be a risk, given Hedley isn’t a “natural” left back (albeit he’s performed very well there).
It would only take an injury to leave us short of experienced cover. Hope didn’t look ready at the start of the season (although he was playing in a poor defence). Maybe he’s improved after time out on loan, but it would still be a risk only having two senior full backs for a season that could reach about 55/60 games if we go on cup runs as well.
The flip side though is, is it a waste of a wage having a senior left back covering for Hedley, when they won’t get as much game time? I personally don’t think it is as the extra matches mean more opportunities to play.
Re: George smith departs
Posted: Wed May 11, 2022 7:23 am
by 50 years
I was quite impressed with Hope at left full back at the beginning of last season in the few games I saw him. Thought he was fast, skillfull and attack minded full back, although a little slight and inexperienced at the time but has had a season in a "man's game" as they seem to call it, so may be ready?
I liked Smith at full back, thought he was a good player, but his injuries were a problem, so I can understand the decision.
Re: George smith departs
Posted: Wed May 11, 2022 9:17 am
by Ghost_Of_1883
Darlogramps wrote: ↑Wed May 11, 2022 4:45 am
Darlo_CR wrote:I wouldn’t be surprised to see Griffiths and Hedley as fullbacks with Hope and another youngster as back up.
Probably wiser using Smiths wage elsewhere in the team and get a young replacement for cover.
That would be a bit of a gamble though in my opinion. We’ve got an expanded 46-game league season, plus a minimum of two Cup/Trophy games.
To only have two senior full backs would be a risk, given Hedley isn’t a “natural” left back (albeit he’s performed very well there).
It would only take an injury to leave us short of experienced cover. Hope didn’t look ready at the start of the season (although he was playing in a poor defence). Maybe he’s improved after time out on loan, but it would still be a risk only having two senior full backs for a season that could reach about 55/60 games if we go on cup runs as well.
The flip side though is, is it a waste of a wage having a senior left back covering for Hedley, when they won’t get as much game time? I personally don’t think it is as the extra matches mean more opportunities to play.
To be fair, if we end up with Hedley and Griffiths as full backs with only Hope as back up, well I guess at some point Hope needs to be trying to break into the team anyway - AA obviously rates him if he's offered Hope a new deal. In an ideal world we'll get another full back but if not, we've always used the loan market quite well under AA.
Re: George smith departs
Posted: Wed May 11, 2022 9:33 am
by Darlogramps
Seems Darlo_CR has it right again. Presume if Hope stays, we then go for one more full back as cover. Still think it’d be a gamble if both cover full backs are fairly young (think Hope is 19). But I see and understand the logic.
Re: George smith departs
Posted: Wed May 11, 2022 10:32 am
by tdk1
Purver has filled in okay on defence when asked to. maybe with hedley playing so well there purver and hope are being kept on as backup and Smith's wage is being freed up to strengthen elsewhere.
Was an old Penney trick having players who could cover several positions. Gives you a bit more slack on the budget.
Re: George smith departs
Posted: Wed May 11, 2022 11:48 am
by Spyman
If Hedley and/or Griffiths fall victim to injury that will keep them out of more than a couple of games then I suppose we dip in to the loan market. If Smith is injured half the season and on the bench the other half there's no point paying his wage.
As alluded to above, Armstrong is under a fair amount of pressure to upgrade the quality available, so has to be quite ruthless about those players who are not under contract. Smith and Cassidy would be easy to retain but realistically you're then saying that last season's squad was largely good enough.