Pre-season might not be over, but it is almost at an end and with the Championship opener against Coventry looming let’s dive into the recent friendlies and look at the most notable talking points.
A STRIKER IS NEEDED
I mean this is something from last season and we’re still in the same place with less than two weeks to go before matchday one. Without Ross Stewart we won’t and can’t do anything. The build up play can be as fancy as you like but if you don’t have someone in the box that can reliably put the ball in the back of the net then we’re screwed. Not only that but if we only have one player who can do that then we’re in troubled waters. Ross isn’t going to play every game next season so we need a good number two, and even number three at least. Last season we relied on Broadhead when Stewart went through a rough patch but even he got injured, and our other striking option was Jermain Defoe and well… Yeah. That was dull.
SQUAD DEPTH
Not only is it up top that we need depth in, it’s throughout the starting eleven. Starting at the back we have Anthony Patterson in goal but no others are challenging his starting role. Then at full back we Lynden Gooch and Carl Winchester. Gooch tries hard and sometimes he has a decent game and we fall back in love with him but he can’t deliver consistently enough. I think he’d be better suited to a bench role, especially since he can play in several different positions. As for Winchester I think he’s better off in the middle as a centre back. So I’d like to see the club sign another full back.
Not only that but the side that faced League Two team Bradford was what I would say is our second side, paired with a few new signings. They looked completely off it. They were only friendlies but players were walking around after 60 minutes, no one was really offering anything and we made Bradford look much better than we should have. No disrespect to Bradford but if our second team can’t deal with them then we need to improve; if we aspire to remain a Championship club our B side should be winning those sort of games.
CLARKE IS CLASS
Throughout the pre-season matches one thing has been easy to see for everyone and that is that Jack Clarke is a quality player. We all saw this in flashes last year and already he’s showing it again. His directness and willingness to run at defenders will cause problems for many Championship defenders. He’s got the talent to go far but he just needs to work on getting the ball off to the right person. He’s even been tracking back in games too so it’s going to be an exciting season watching him grow more.
DECENT FOUNDATIONS
I’m really impressed with our defensive signings, and I think they’ll prove their worth this season. Dan Ballard and Aji Alese have both come from Premier League clubs and Ballard has experience in the Championship. Alongside Bailey Wright and Danny Batth who have also spent time in the second division of English football. I think we can rely on them and at some point in the season we probably will. When that time comes I think we have a good enough blend of youth and experience to weather most storms.
