Oliver Sonne

[mkmel]

We've got the song.
https://youtu.be/u4pLNKb8j2U?feature=shared

We've also got the Sonne

[bfcjg]

I hope he's not one of these player who turns it on when the Clarets are live, otherwise we'll be muttering why does The Sonne always shines on T.V. ?

[mkmel]

Through his mother, I think.

I just now checked and he qualifies for Peru through his grandmother who is Peruvian

[Goliath]

I’ve seen this written before, but with Brownhill, Laurent and Hannibal all on our books, I’m not sure how we can bring in a better option - as back up to Cullen- and expect him to sit on the bench

The issue is Brownhill and Hannibal like to go and press and do their box to box stuff, their big weakness is receiving the ball on the half turn and basically ticking the game over. Laurent is slightly different but has staggeringly little awareness when receiving the ball and therefore seems to actively avoid doing so when he's back there unless he's confident that he has loads of time.

I genuinely think if Cullen gets injured for 6 months for example, with this current squad we completely collapse. We'd suddenly lose the ability to play through presses, we'd condequently lose the ball in dangerous areas regularly or we'd go longer and give up.the ball, therefore losing our style of play.

Whoever said Massengo, that can't be a serious suggestion. If he was our Cullen replacement we'd be screwed.
Remember we are aiming for top 2 here.

In every other position I think we have another option to bring in and it not really affect things.

[Rileybobs]

I think buying another central midfielder would be complete madness.

[taio]

The issue is Brownhill and Hannibal like to go and press and do their box to box stuff, their big weakness is receiving the ball on the half turn and basically ticking the game over. Laurent is slightly different but has staggeringly little awareness when receiving the ball and therefore seems to actively avoid doing so when he's back there unless he's confident that he has loads of time.

I genuinely think if Cullen gets injured for 6 months for example, with this current squad we completely collapse. We'd suddenly lose the ability to play through presses, we'd condequently lose the ball in dangerous areas regularly or we'd go longer and give up.the ball, therefore losing our style of play.

Whoever said Massengo, that can't be a serious suggestion. If he was our Cullen replacement we'd be screwed.
Remember we are aiming for top 2 here.

In every other position I think we have another option to bring in and it not really affect things.

We absolutely don't need more central midfielders. Parker has just commented about having multiple options for those positions. The only way it would happen is if we came across the bargain of the century.

[123EasyasBFC]

The issue is Brownhill and Hannibal like to go and press and do their box to box stuff, their big weakness is receiving the ball on the half turn and basically ticking the game over. Laurent is slightly different but has staggeringly little awareness when receiving the ball and therefore seems to actively avoid doing so when he's back there unless he's confident that he has loads of time.

I genuinely think if Cullen gets injured for 6 months for example, with this current squad we completely collapse. We'd suddenly lose the ability to play through presses, we'd condequently lose the ball in dangerous areas regularly or we'd go longer and give up.the ball, therefore losing our style of play.

Whoever said Massengo, that can't be a serious suggestion. If he was our Cullen replacement we'd be screwed.
Remember we are aiming for top 2 here.

In every other position I think we have another option to bring in and it not really affect things.

The point was Massengo being a good enough backup to Cullen as I was replying to a post saying we couldn’t sign someone on Cullens level to sit on the bench

[Stonehouse]

I hope he's not one of these player who turns it on when the Clarets are live, otherwise we'll be muttering why does The Sonne always shines on T.V. ?

Ah Ah Ah

[HollandsPies]

You'd struggle turning this little ditty into a song for him ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StZcUAPRRac

[Goliath]

We absolutely don't need more central midfielders. Parker has just commented about having multiple options for those positions. The only way it would happen is if we came across the bargain of the century.

I just dont agree with the idea of 'central midfielder' as one position. There are different profiles of centre mid. We arguably have 4 of one type and 1 of the other in Cullen.

The prudent thing to do would be to ship out Massengo and replace him with a sitting midfielder with a high pass frequency.
This is why I think not giving Cork another year was silly when we knew we would be losing Berge.

[taio]

I just dont agree with the idea of 'central midfielder' as one position. There are different profiles of centre mid. We arguably have 4 of one type and 1 of the other in Cullen.

The prudent thing to do would be to ship out Massengo and replace him with a sitting midfielder with a high pass frequency.
This is why I think not giving Cork another year was silly when we knew we would be losing Berge.

It isn't one position. But we have plenty of cover and flexibility. Prudent is not bringing in players we don't need.

[Colburn_Claret]

Pretty sure he's a right back. He'll find it hard to take Roberts' place in the team given how we'll he's playing.

We have no cover for Roberts and we should have 2 for every position. I like Humphreys, but he looks lost trying to cover RB.

[Goliath]

It isn't one position. But we have plenty of cover and flexibility. Prudent is not bringing in players we don't need.

Prudent is getting rid of the players that aren't needed or aren't being used so for me that's Massengo, Tresor, Egan or reluctantly Ekdal and Houtondji.

It's also having cover for every position which for me we do apart from the Cullen role. If we don't get someone then we are one bog Cullen injury away from losing out on a potential PL place and 100 million pounds plus. That's not a risk I'd be willing to take if it was me.

[taio]

Prudent is getting rid of the players that aren't needed or aren't being used so for me that's Massengo, Tresor, Egan or reluctantly Ekdal and Houtondji.

It's also having cover for every position which for me we do apart from the Cullen role. If we don't get someone then we are one bog Cullen injury away from losing out on a potential PL place and 100 million pounds plus. That's not a risk I'd be willing to take if it was me.

Laurent is clearly cover for Cullen. Just because you don't rate him it doesn't alter that.

[Goliath]

Laurent is clearly cover for Cullen. Just because you don't rate him it doesn't alter that.

I do rate him. Just not in that role. His main weakness is Cullens biggest strength. So it's not a great solution

[fidelcastro]

I just now checked and he qualifies for Peru through his grandmother who is Peruvian

Not what I read, but whatever.

It's not that important.

[Im_not_Robbie_Blake]

I think Massengo is more like cover for Cullen

[fidelcastro]

When it's so obvious that we're in need of a regular goalscorer up front, there are posters who want us to sign yet another midfielder.

Bizarre.

[nil_desperandum]

I do rate him. Just not in that role. His main weakness is Cullens biggest strength. So it's not a great solution

So I reiterate my previous post.
Where do we find a midfielder who has all the qualities of Cullen who would be superior to Laurent in that role, and yet prepared to sit on the bench week in week out on the off chance that Cullen picks up a long term injury?
Surely, if he exists then he will go somewhere where he can get regular first team football?
And if he's as good as Cullen, he would- most likely - take up a substantial chunk of our budget, which would be better spent elsewhere.

[Goliath]

So I reiterate my previous post.
Where do we find a midfielder who has all the qualities of Cullen who would be superior to Laurent in that role, and yet prepared to sit on the bench week in week out on the off chance that Cullen picks up a long term injury?
Surely, if he exists then he will go somewhere where he can get regular first team football?
And if he's as good as Cullen, he would- most likely - take up a substantial chunk of our budget, which would be better spent elsewhere.

I've no idea, we have full time data analysts looking all over the world for that. Having just quickly googled the stats, Cullen on average makes about 60 passes per 90 compared to Laurents 40, with a significantly higher completion rate.

It's not that we need someone better than Cullen, just somebody with a similar profile even on loan. Off the top of my head possibly Luongo from Ipswich who doesn't seem to be playing much.

Unfortunately we are always going to have players taking up some of our budget who don't play often.

[Hipper]

I haven't seen anything of Massengo to suggest he's cover for Cullen. That he can take control of a match.

Laurent might be able to but not as well as Cullen.

[Vegas Claret]

When it's so obvious that we're in need of a regular goalscorer up front, there are posters who want us to sign yet another midfielder.

Bizarre.

?

[summitclaret]

We already have someone who could play the Cullen role and one day could be even better. He's currently doing a brilliant job partnering Esteve. If Cullen was out for a significant period, we could probably find an adequate cb from our existing squad.

[Holtyclaret]

When it's so obvious that we're in need of a regular goalscorer up front, there are posters who want us to sign yet another midfielder.

Bizarre.

Maybe they’d like both. I’m sure they’ll be more than one addition in January and a few outs.

[fidelcastro]

Maybe they’d like both. I’m sure they’ll be more than one addition in January and a few outs.

I'm guessing our budget won't stretch that far.

Parker and Pace have pretty much said as much.

[boatshed bill]

I'm guessing our budget won't stretch that far.

Parker and Pace have pretty much said as much.

Wouldn't it depend on any outgoings?

[fidelcastro]

Wouldn't it depend on any outgoings?

Only if we sell someone for silly money, which I just can't see at this stage of the season.

[boatshed bill]

Only if we sell someone for silly money, which I just can't see at this stage of the season.

Nothing surprises me in football these days. Would we turn down serious money for any of our top players?

[fidelcastro]

Nothing surprises me in football these days. Would we turn down serious money for any of our top players?

Probably not, but it's a moot point.

I really don't see us going in for another midfielder at this point of the season.

[IanMcL]

Why did you put an exclamation mark in brackets?

Odd punctuation for an odd question?

[Goliath]

When it's so obvious that we're in need of a regular goalscorer up front, there are posters who want us to sign yet another midfielder.

Bizarre.

Sign another forward?

We have Jay Rod, Houtondji, Foster, Sarmiento, Koleosho, Ramsey, Tresor, Redmond, Anthony, Fleming, Benson and now Hannibal.
Thats 12 players for 3 positions, you want to add another to that? We saw what happened last season when we did something like that, it was catastrophic

[fidelcastro]

Sign another forward?

We have Jay Rod, Houtondji, Foster, Sarmiento, Koleosho, Ramsey, Tresor, Redmond, Anthony, Fleming, Benson and now Hannibal.
Thats 12 players for 3 positions, you want to add another to that? We saw what happened last season when we did something like that, it was catastrophic

Not all of those players will stay fit or still be here by the end of next month.

Yes, I want to add another to that and I think the club does too.

Why? Because a striker who can actually score on a fairly regular basis might be the difference between us going up or not.

[taio]

Sign another forward?

We have Jay Rod, Houtondji, Foster, Sarmiento, Koleosho, Ramsey, Tresor, Redmond, Anthony, Fleming, Benson and now Hannibal.
Thats 12 players for 3 positions, you want to add another to that? We saw what happened last season when we did something like that, it was catastrophic

Yep. A striker/no. 9. Not the positions of most of the players you've mentioned. Let's see if the club appears to prioritise a striker over or a centre mid in January.

[boatshed bill]

Yep. A striker/no. 9. Not the positions of most of the players you've mentioned. Let's see if the club appears to prioritise a striker over or a centre mid in January.

Correct, only 3 of the forwards mentioned are what we may describe as an outright "No 9", and Hountondji is nowhere near proven. A 1 in 3 goalscorer (or better) would be the best possible addition right now.

[taio]

Correct, only 3 of the forwards mentioned are what we may describe as an outright "No 9", and Hountondji is nowhere near proven. A 1 in 3 goalscorer (or better) would be the best possible addition right now.

Yes, Hountondji unproven, we can't rely on Foster to be fit at the moment, and Rodriguez is in the twilight of his career. It's hard to understand how anyone who watches us regularly could sensibly think a centre mid is more of a priority than a striker. The biggest difference between us going up or not could very easily be down to whether a current or new striker can score double figures in the second half of the season.

[Goliath]

I've explained the logic a few times. If there is the opportunity to get a number 9 who is better than what we have for an affordable fee and wages then great but it seems a bit unlikely.

A backup for Cullen shouldn't be anywhere near the same cost.

[Jakubclaret]

Yes, Hountondji unproven, we can't rely on Foster to be fit at the moment, and Rodriguez is in the twilight of his career. It's hard to understand how anyone who watches us regularly could sensibly think a centre mid is more of a priority than a striker. The biggest difference between us going up or not could very easily be down to whether a current or new striker can score double figures in the second half of the season.

At no point have we been able to rely upon foster. I can clearly remember the discussion that happened regarded foster. It appears to be a surprise now amongst the amnesia stricken but going back all this was mentioned previously.

[taio]

At no point have we been able to rely upon foster. I can clearly remember the discussion that happened regarded foster. It appears to be a surprise now amongst the amnesia stricken but going back all this was mentioned previously.

All what was mentioned?

[Jakubclaret]

All what was mentioned?

Exactly forgotten point proven I'll rest my case now. It's a sensitive reminder regarding mental health which will bring forward arguments. Good evening.

[fidelcastro]

Along comes Jakub to ruin another thread

[taio]

Exactly forgotten point proven I'll rest my case now. It's a sensitive reminder regarding mental health which will bring forward arguments. Good evening.

I'm under the impression that Foster is sidelined due to a physical injury sustained while he was on international duty.

[boatshed bill]

I'm under the impression that Foster is sidelined due to a physical injury sustained while he was on international duty.

And the distinct possibility that there is a difference to being "not match fit" to being injured.
The players have to meet very high criteria before being what we call match fit.