Matt Derbyshire - new signing , 18mth deal

Being an Aussie and watching a bit of the A League, I must say we have dodged a bullet by not signing Austin. He honestly looked like an A League clogger, playing on injections and is what appears to be a bad egg. I have it on authority that Brisbane wanted shut much earlier to free up a marquee signing slot and ridiculous wages they paid him. Lad would roll up late to training often and refuse to do running drills. Derbyshire on the other hand... Albeit a couple of years earlier looked clinical and a cut above the league. Definitely had the hunger, guile and surprisingly didn't appear to have lost his 'first couple of yards'. And as a standard... The A League is on par with lower league two technically, while the tactical aspects and pace of the game more akin to conference standard. So I honestly think he will give us a better option off the bench than Angol or be a better partner for cook or Oliver up top.

 

Would think Cyprus and India are pretty poor quality.
Australia a bit better?

 

I cant see Angol staying. So whatt do we have to lose

 

Cypriot league is quite good.
Upper league 1 lower Championship.
AEK Larnaca who are 3rd in the division beat Panithniakos, Dynamo Kiev, drew with Rennes and narrowly lost to Femerbache in their European campaign this season.

 

Vardy playing in the Premier league tonight and he is 35 so can be done if kept fit

 

Vardy came into the game as a semi pro and pro, quite late in terms of age, based on the relative comparison of others. Similar to Dean Windass

 

One thing that surprises even me, i.e. as one of the more optimistic fans, is that we've had more total shots than Carlisle, Mansfield, Northampton and Stevenage. And only two less than Orient.

Now of course, stats mean nothing - quality of the shot is everything. But it does show that chance creation wise, contrary to what some think, we ain't that bad.

Clearly Hughes wants an attacking streetwise hustler in the attack and sees Young incapable of doing that job at this time.

It's a strange signing, but I can see the logic.

 

Smith is currently wowing them at Salford, age 33.

We saw in the world cup - as we see in The Premiership, every week with the evergreen James Milner, that if you keep yourself fit in today's world (look at Djokovic, Federer and Nadal) been in your mid to late 30's is nothing now.

 

Yes. But I think what you'll find is Derbyshire is the type not to have lost that edge, because he's been at a lower standard. Probably feeds off the quality of players around him.

Angol should never have been resigned anyway. He's one of the few players I've always been 'meh' about. Young, clearly has some maturing to do. I'm sure Hughes will loan him out and get him more streetwise etc.

 

He’s a different type of forward to the others we have on the books so, on that basis, I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt until my own eyes see if his legs have gone.

Be interesting to see if he starts alongside Oliver to get on flicks, as we’ve wanted two up front for ages.

 

Gordon Greer

 

He's coming in as striker coach, right?

He's a coach, right?

Right?

Right?

 

This looks like a very poor signing on paper.

However, it could signal we're more likely to play 4-3-3 going forward and can accommodate another striker, or it could signal that Vadaine is on his way.

Having said that, Derbyshire is not a replacement for Vadaine, so that's probably not the situation.

I hope a few players leave, our squad is too big IMO, and we seem to be signing numbers for the sake of it.

 

this is a strange one, but i wish him a fruitful stay.
He is our player now so should get our full backing.
Who goes out though , surely can not be Cook or Vidane, so probably Angol or Young or both

 

Really no idea about this striker. I certainly won’t consign him to the dust bin due to age. We have had a few aging strikers from the PL and they have done ok. We will have to trust MH on this one. Let’s see what he can do.

 

If it's Angol, that would be fine with me. I'd be a bit disappointed if Young left on anything other than a loan, though, I think he can offer something going forward.

 

But recently he's come alive. This is a tough division mentally. I liken Salford in style to us, i.e. maybe a gnarled veteran is what they needed and what we have now got.