Declan Drysdale or Stuart Thurgood | Vital Football

Declan Drysdale or Stuart Thurgood

Kura

Vital Youth Team
After tonight's inept performance by an 'professional" footballer does he now rival Stuart Thurgood as one of our most talentless signings.

The sight of him playing "center forward" at the end completely summed up the last two fixtures. Where do we go from here, honestly it's been dreadful for weeks and weeks, and the loss of Jorden Graham really shows how one dimensional we were.
 
He has had quite a few poor games now. I would let him return to Coventry.
I agree it’s harsh to say he’s in the running for the worst seen, particularly given his age and we’ve played him all across the park. Besides, I think Cooper bought in some worse players than Stimson.

I wonder what we can expect from the terms? A season long loan often allows no recalls in the first x amount of weeks but I wonder if it’s reciprocated? Given he was a crisis/favour loan are we paying any amount of his wages, and if so how much of a hit would that be for us?
 
I don't remember Thurgood as being that bad. Not particularly talented but a wholehearted trier. Didn't make me angry like JET who had the opposite problem.

I thought Drysdale's last game was the Exeter Match when he came on after we had conceded the 3 goals in 10 minutes and made us more solid at the back. Perhaps not.

Sure he made a bad mistake last night. That's what happens with young players. If he was pushed up front, I suspect that was Evans' idea but it is not his position.
 
I agree with shotshy that you are being hard on a young player, who is learning his trade. Thurgood wasn't quick enough to arrive early enough to make a legal tackle, far worse but he was an honest trier.

I'd criticise the manager before the players now because he's had long enough for us to judge the style of play and his way of operating. He battered a very young squad after the last couple of outings and tinkered with his back 4 again, which surely was part of the reason for Drysdale's difficulties. You recruited them Steve, you prepared them, built them up and knocked them down again then put them out to play. At the very least I'd like to see him hold his hands up this time.
 
Given we are possibly getting the lad on a really generous deal following the O'Keefe injury v Coventry .Judging on comments at the time .We can hardly complain.Beggers can't be choosers I think is the expression.

It is only a generous deal if the player adds value to the team. If the player adds nothing and on the basis of this thread adds negative value then it is dubious to think he joined as a generous deal let alone a really generous one. Maybe it could best be described as a desperate deal in light of it being a deal in the aftermath of the O'Keefe injury.

^ plus O'Keefe is a midfielder and not a defender so positionally not even a comparable replacement.

Beggars might not be choosers, but I'm sure there are plenty of alternatives we could have chased and got. If we were in the position to get someone like Medley from Arsenal then I am sure we could have got someone else who is more up to league one standard.
 
Overall I've said Steve Evans has done a fairly good job up until now but he needs to start being held accountable for some of his decisions.

I think we'll look back in due course and judge Evan's signings to be on par with most managers with big ticks against some signings (Oliver, Graham, probably Samuel), some poor signings (Hobson, Cisse, Drysdale) with the rest like Bonham being considered respectable signings on par with the quality of the league.

But depending on if you like Evans or not, people will then focus on ether his great signings or his worse signings in which to prove a point.

When bringing in a load of new signings, especially with the number of loans, then there is always going to be some who hit the ground running and others who will struggle to get up to match speed. It might well be the case that Drysdale needs a run in the side to get properly match sharp and build up some sort of partnership with his defensive partner.

To give a bit of credit to Evans, Cisse and Hobson were quickly pushed to the side once it was evident they would struggle (like Stimson with Thurgood) so maybe Drysdale will fall down the pecking order behind Maghoma if Evans thinks he isn't anywhere near the standard based upon last night's performance.
 
I thought he was playing okay until the slip and second goal, he seemed to fall apart after that and got exposed positionally. The comparison with Thurgood is unfair he is a young lad who has had a few wobbles and Is trying to find his way in the game. I do think however that he would be better placed in a league or two lower to gain more experience and that worryingly he is still better then Maghoma.
 
Evans needs to find a solid centre half partner to play alongside Tucker, and someone upfront with some pace and physicality.
 
Punting Drysdale up front was a reasonable option late in last night`s game, given the predicament we were in at the time. Let`s face it, putting a big D man into the opposition box as a last resort was something we used to do frequently with Max Ehmer - and it sometimes worked to our benefit.

But, in relation to Drysdale, he hasn`t had the best of runs at GFC. He`s a big talented lad and I hope he does well in the future. A return to Coventry is surely the best thing for him and GFC at this stage.

Maybe sometimes too many loan players really does upset the apple cart, in terms of team selection. SE has an obligation to give highly rated young loans a run in the team; surely it`s either a written, or unwritten condition of the loan deal.

In our case we have at least six young guys vying for what is, in effect, two/three starting places (four squad spots). Our lack of consistency across the back line is now hurting us and costing points. IMO we already have the necessary quality to leave the central defensive positions in the hands of three or four of our current guys.

Ironically, because the better combinations haven`t been given the time to progress gelling as pairings, we might now face the prospect of SE getting in a more experienced CH - rather than spend the bulk of "new cash" on helping the front end and another Full Back. Maybe we have enough dosh to repair all around - i`m hoping so.
 
I suppose you are joking but clearly dear old Leroy did not have much of a scoring record at any level whereas at least Big John has a prolific record at League Two level and below.

In the 4 years before joining us, he did appear to have scored 51 goals in 105 matches at what is now the National League and is a similar scoring record to Simeon Jackson before he signed for us.

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Considering he cost practically nothing, Leroy Griffiths always struck me as a cheap gamble in the same way we signed Liam Nash. From memory he only started a couple of matches with the rest being used as an impact sub late on in the match when we needed an injection of pace and was prone to launching it long in a panic to get it away from our goal.
 
I am slightly confused (not unusual)
I thought Eccles was the player who came in to replace O'Keefe.

I wouldn't say Eccles is a direct replacement for O'Keefe style wise. I thought McKenzie was supposed to be a right back but seems to be the more natural cover and preferred replacement for O'Keefe.
 
I am slightly confused (not unusual)
I thought Eccles was the player who came in to replace O'Keefe.
I thought the same. I seem to remember O’Keefe got injured in the win v Coventry, then the next day Eccles was announced as a loan signing. I remember it because it wras quite a nasty challenge on okeefe, yet SE barely mentioned it after the game.

I thought Drysdale turned up a month or so later.