He doesn't seem to have made the squad for a while even though we only had one forward on the bench on Saturday. Is he injured or just out of favour?

aggi wrote:He doesn't seem to have made the squad for a while even though we only had one forward on the bench on Saturday. Is he injured or just out of favour?

I think he's just 'out'. Obviously we can't judge him because he's hardly played but there is something not right there and I think it is going to go down as one of Dyche's rare 'failures'. With Vokes now our third choice striker he's not going to get much of a sniff really and with Wood and Barnes (how wrong was I about him) in such fabulous form I think he's surplus barring a disaster in injuries or suspensions. However we might just hang on to develop him more who knows.

Strange one from day 1.

One area I hope we improve is recruitment. With a better scouting network we could afford to take these risks on players with a better pedigree.

Didnt work out and we are the most wealthy we have ever been. So luckily its not as big a deal as it couldve been. But we should still be prudent.

5m on am injured, out of favour and soon to be out of contract player with no top flight experience isnt a gamble we should be taking.

houseboy wrote: I think it is going to go down as one of Dyche's rare 'failures'.

Arguably it is one of Dyche's successes that bringing Wells into the squad has raised the competition from the other three strikers so highly. Barnes in particular has been in stellar form and seems determined not to let go of the shirt for anyone else.

Wells always seemed a good option as a pacey forward to me, however it's turned out that we haven't needed a pacey option due to the performances of Barnes and Wood, which is unfortunate for him.

Shame for the lad, really, it's not that realistically it's not something Nakhi Wells could have affected himself.

Darthlaw wrote:Arguably it is one of Dyche's successes that bringing Wells into the squad has raised the competition from the other three strikers so highly. Barnes in particular has been in stellar form and seems determined not to let go of the shirt for anyone else.

Wells always seemed a good option as a pacey forward to me, however it's turned out that we haven't needed a pacey option due to the performances of Barnes and Wood, which is unfortunate for him.

Shame for the lad, really, it's not that realistically it's not something Nakhi Wells could have affected himself.

You make some good points there.

He is one of 4 fit strikers. Needed.
One injury/suspension and he is back in the frame.

He will leave in the summer, and we will likely recoup most if not all of the fee as he has a decent record in the Championship.

He may well prove a handy makeweight for any player we may want from a relegated side, for example.

In this case, he will have cost us his wages for the duration of the contract, which isn't bad at all for a competent back up striker.

You need a squad so players push each other. Not his fault if Barnes and co have raised their game but having said that seemed a bit of a gamble signing.

I think he's been a victim of our 4-5-1 being such a success.

And now he's got the best partnership in the premier league (by goals scored per minute) to deal with.

I'll be surprised if he leaves though. He knows that if he gets a chance and he plays well then he'll keep his shirt.

cricketfieldclarets wrote:Strange one from day 1.

One area I hope we improve is recruitment. With a better scouting network we could afford to take these risks on players with a better pedigree.

Didnt work out and we are the most wealthy we have ever been. So luckily its not as big a deal as it couldve been. But we should still be prudent.

5m on am injured, out of favour and soon to be out of contract player with no top flight experience isnt a gamble we should be taking.

Good cast.

Imo its worked out to plan. He was only ever going to play if we had injuries/suspensions.

You need 4 as a minimum and £5m for that these days in the PL is nothing. Had we spent £5m on a 4th choice CM or CH who hasn’t played there wouldn’t be this issue.

He is that good that we had 2 ful backs and a cb and no winger on the bench at WBA. Cmplete mystery of a signing.

Improve on recruitment.

Pmsl.

A genuine question, do we know for definite that the transfer fee was £5mil or are we believing paper talk?
Also do you think we bought him to weaken the other football team ( they are having a problem scoring) and strengthen our position as it fills up a gap below us?

Deffo know the 2nd bit isn't true as he was surplus to requirements at Huddersfield because he didn't fit in with what Wagner wanted to do.

Darthlaw wrote:Arguably it is one of Dyche's successes that bringing Wells into the squad has raised the competition from the other three strikers so highly. Barnes in particular has been in stellar form and seems determined not to let go of the shirt for anyone else.

Wells always seemed a good option as a pacey forward to me, however it's turned out that we haven't needed a pacey option due to the performances of Barnes and Wood, which is unfortunate for him.

Shame for the lad, really, it's not that realistically it's not something Nakhi Wells could have affected himself.

Agree with that. Maybe his presence has affected Barnes for the better but what of his future at the club now? Vokes is pretty much third choice now but maybe he would wait his turn at a PL club like Burnley rather than go back to the Championship (or worse). I really wish we could have seen more of him as he obviously was rated by Dyche.
Having said all that what the hell is my opinion worth, a few short weeks ago I was saying that Barnes wasn't PL quality and look at him now. Playing alongside Wood has given him a total re-birth. Wood and Barnes are the in-form strikers in the PL just now and barring injuries or suspensions I can't see anyone else getting a look in. If we were mid-table with nothing at stake Dyche may be tempted to experiment but with Europe still beckoning and the money that that and the PL standings may bring (not to mention pride) I can't see that happening. Suffice to say I have rarely been so happy to be proved wrong as far as Barnes is concerned.

if he had played and been rubbish then that's failure.He needs a Defour-like pre-season to energise him for next season

Dyche knows best

Lancasterclaret wrote:Deffo know the 2nd bit isn't true as he was surplus to requirements at Huddersfield because he didn't fit in with what Wagner wanted to do.

Nothing to do with what Wagner wanted to do , Wells wouldn’t sign a new contract and was told he’d never play for Huddersfield again.

clive40golf wrote:A genuine question, do we know for definite that the transfer fee was £5mil or are we believing paper talk?
Also do you think we bought him to weaken the other football team ( they are having a problem scoring) and strengthen our position as it fills up a gap below us?

The weakening option is a possibility.. I firmly believe west ham took Robert snodgrass to weaken Burnley last season.....as they along with us were down with the dead men.they didn't want him really.and unloaded him when safe.

To have three defenders on the bench last Sat and only one striker does look somewhat strange
We've seen very little of him which would seem to cast doubt on his ability (in the manager's eyes)
A few cameo appearances have done little to impress

Sidney1st wrote:Good cast.

Ok then

Our Ashley was just fine 'before' Wells.....i don't buy that argument!
As for Nahki Wells he hasn't had a chance to prove himself...flog him in the summer, and cut our losses i say!

Panic buy and a gamble, which sadly didn't pay off.
If he wasn't going to get regular minutes with only Barnes and Vokes fit, he's not going to get minutes at all.

In my opinion he is 5th choice, and if we are to improve year on year I can see 4th and 5th choice being replaced. Which is 2 of Walters , Wells and Vokes.
I'd be inclined to say the latter 2.

I think we will still recoup the fee mind, so not all bad, if he had bagged 2 or 3 from the bench, and got us a few points, people would have shouted masterstroke.
Our great form has also played a part in his failure.

We can only play 11 players. We need plenty more than that for cover. We are generally going to play our strongest team. We will have to sign players who don't end up playing that much/if at all. Even our 'back up' players are going to cost a few quid, because of the level we are playing at now. That doesn't mean we've wasted money or there's an issue with recruitment.

To suggest recruitment is an area for improvement is really stretching it. Tarks, Pope, Brady, Lennon, Westwood, Lowton, Defour, Cork ....Dyche has done alright recently I'd say.

Indecisive wrote: Tarks, Pope, Brady, Lennon, Westwood, Lowton, Defour, Cork ....Dyche has done alright recently I'd say.

Looking at that brilliant collection of recruits, id say he's done a lot more than alright.

Realistically, Wells (if 5th choice) and Walters (age) both need replacing this summer
Whether we can do that based on their current contract deals (which won't be cheap) remains to be seen
Sometimes you have to admit if signings have not worked out, and move on
We can afford these financial losses at the minute

Indecisive wrote:We can only play 11 players. We need plenty more than that for cover. We are generally going to play our strongest team. We will have to sign players who don't end up playing that much/if at all. Even our 'back up' players are going to cost a few quid, because of the level we are playing at now. That doesn't mean we've wasted money or there's an issue with recruitment.

To suggest recruitment is an area for improvement is really stretching it. Tarks, Pope, Brady, Lennon, Westwood, Lowton, Defour, Cork ....Dyche has done alright recently I'd say.

We have done well. Thats not in question.

But we absolutely can improve. Especially with overseas recruitment and. / or integrating such players.

For every defour there have been countless overseas failures. Thats not aimed at dyche or unique to his tenure. As a club its an area we struggle.

Thankfuly our domestic recruitment is excellent.

Not so sure it was a panic buy, more an attempt at a calculated gamble.

Don’t mind the odd one of those, and it wasn’t at £10-£15m but I couldn’t ever see this one working out myself. Seen plenty of him, particularly at Bradford City, and he wasn’t going to be good enough at this level.

Shame, but suspect and hope we’ll be moving him on in the summer. Think Walters may go, too, so we should be looking at getting a good striker in, then you’ve an excellent group with Vokes, Wood, Barnes and another option.

Not one for resigning old players for the sake of it - but Charlie Austin would be a great addition to the above 3.

I certainly don't see it as a panic buy. The loss of Gray left us without any pace options up front. Wells was bought as the pace option.

As it happens we've had a decent season so haven't ended up needing to a move to a different tactic. Our successful tactic this season hasn't been the pace option so Wells has missed out.

Had we struggled and reverted to a counter attacking tactic Wells could easily have started most games.

Lancasterclaret wrote:
And now he's got the best partnership in the premier league (by goals scored per minute) to deal with.

That's a remarkable statistic. Can you point to an information source Lancaster?

Now that we're near the end of the season, does this lad get a SD pre season and 12 months to show that he can play at this level?
Injury means he's not had the best of starts with us and he's contracted to 2020. I thought he would make a good vokes / wells partnership if we needed to play it over midfield, Nial Quinn / Kevin Philips type of combination.
Does he have the ability and skills. Is he doing the things on the training field that's being asked of him. Is the original reason for signing him been proved to no longer be required. Has he simply been bought on the cheap with a view to moving him on for a profit in a rising market?
He's one player who I'm struggling to try and predict if he's in or out this transfer window.

I hope he gets a game this weekend ... I'm sure he will be playing a part sometime next season in the Europa. He cut a forlorn figure at the Emirates on the pitch for the one minute he was on it.dont know how he managed to applaud the away fans TBH. I just tell me self he's on a good wage which is a Bonus I suppose .

That's a remarkable statistic. Can you point to an information source Lancaster?

Sadly not! Just heard it in on the radio and due to the lack of actual strike partnerships these days thought it might well be true

File under Sordell Bamford Hennings Long andJuke
Seans Achilles is strikers .We need to recruit
far better next season

Like Barnes, Gray or Wood ?

Woodleyclaret wrote:File under Sordell Bamford Hennings Long andJuke
Seans Achilles is strikers .We need to recruit
far better next season

Did he not sign Gray then ...who's goals in the Championship fired us to promotion some of our support have very short memories

Schmakhi Schwells

Steve1956 wrote:Did he not sign Gray then ...who's goals in the Championship fired us to promotion some of our support have very short memories

Spending big money on Gray who had just scored 20 goals for a mid table team was hardly a masterstroke though was it?

jrgbfc wrote:Spending big money on Gray who had just scored 20 goals for a mid table team was hardly a masterstroke though was it?

Ok ...the bloke who has just guided us to seventh and back into Europe after a 50 year gap is useless in the transfer market! .....I ******* give up!

You can tell the close season is upon us when you read threads like this.

Steve1956 wrote:Ok ...the bloke who has just guided us to seventh and back into Europe after a 50 year gap is useless in the transfer market! .....I ******* give up!

Where have I claimed that Dyche is useless in the transfer market? Surely you can see that buying Gray after his previous season was a very low risk signing? It just proves that generally you get what you pay for. We spent big money on a proven championship goalscorer and that's what we got.

If Wells short Burnley career wasn't over before Sunday then it is now, he couldn't even get on the pitch before Nkowdu, whose not even our player. If ever there was a time to give him 30 minutes in his natural position then that was it.

claretandy wrote:If Wells short Burnley career wasn't over before Sunday then it is now, he couldn't even get on the pitch before Nkowdu, whose not even our player. If ever there was a time to give him 30 minutes in his natural position then that was it.

The minute he spent on the pitch was not a good watch.

From what I've heard,Wells' has a high opinion of himself and his attitude hasn't been the best.

tim_noone wrote:The minute he spent on the pitch was not a good watch.

What Happened.....nothing?

jrgbfc wrote:Where have I claimed that Dyche is useless in the transfer market? Surely you can see that buying Gray after his previous season was a very low risk signing? It just proves that generally you get what you pay for. We spent big money on a proven championship goalscorer and that's what we got.

And we then spent £15 million on a Championshio striker in Wood and look how well he's done.
I would also argue that if you break your transfer record on a player it is anything but a low risk signing because of the extra pressure involved.

Dazzler wrote:From what I've heard,Wells' has a high opinion of himself and his attitude hasn't been the best.

If true, that's dissapointing to hear and enough to see him out of the club this summer. Not the type we want in the dressing room.

Dazzler wrote:From what I've heard,Wells' has a high opinion of himself and his attitude hasn't been the best.

Unusual for a footballer?
he's going to set the PL alight next season, mark my words!

boatshed bill wrote:Unusual for a footballer?
he's going to set the PL alight next season, mark my words!

I'll expand on my stating 'he has a high opinion of himself'
He apparently considers himself a better player than both Vokes & Barnes and should be picked ahead of them.