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thoward18

Member Since 15 Sep 2010
Offline Last Active Aug 31 2022 11:38 AM

#1360647 Hamlett gets a new boss: Kevin Thelwell, Head of Sport

Posted by thoward18 on 03 February 2020 - 09:46 AM

I don't buy the idea that we need to sacrifice a year entirely while we sort things out.    We have plenty of flexibility to add a big piece or two now without sacrificing flexibility for the future.    Kaku and Royer and Sims and Long are all going to be on their way out (potentially) this summer or next year.   

 

That said, this is RB making a big investment in the team from a brainpower standpoint, which we desperately need since Marsch left, and essentially demotes Hamlett to a role he's more qualified to execute.     Great news.  Hopefully this guy is alreay on a labne to training camp so he can do serious player evaluation.

I think you're missing my point a bit. 

 

You're Ralf Rangnick and Marc de Grandpre. It's December 20th, 2019. You have $X million dollars in the transfer kit. Regardless of whether that'ss $2M or $30M, You have a brand new head scout and you're searching for Sporting Director. You're going to want to give those guys maximum flexibility as they assess the organization's needs. The more you spend now, the less agency you've given them in fixing what they perceive to be issues. 

 

Anyway, I didn't say we "need" to sacrifice a year. What I said is that I can live with it. 




#1360639 Hamlett gets a new boss: Kevin Thelwell, Head of Sport

Posted by thoward18 on 03 February 2020 - 09:23 AM

Awesome. For better or worse Hamlett is now directly accountable to someone who matters.

 

I'm also hoping stuff like this is the reason we've been quiet on the transfer market so far. I can live with an underwhelming winter and maybe even a forgettable 2020 season if (big if) they wanted to get all their ducks in a row in terms of scouting, analytics, and the general organizational structure so the team has the decision makers they want for big moves going forward.




#1360416 Kemar sold

Posted by thoward18 on 30 January 2020 - 08:43 PM

The issue for me is I have no faith in Armas finding the next time Taxi in a trial like Marsch did. Which wouldnt be an issue if we spent...

This isn't an Armas or Marsch thing. It's a TaxI thing. Good on the organization for recognizing the talent but finding the league's best player at a given position from trial invites is not a sustainable plan no matter who is in charge. 




#1360238 West Ham bid for Long rejected?

Posted by thoward18 on 29 January 2020 - 01:45 PM

Well West Hams management has been an incompetent mess so if Long does move he'll feel right at home.  If I was Long I'd want to go somewhere stable and not a team that's drowning. It's really not a great situation to move to.

I mean, the EPL is the EPL is the EPL. Nobody playing professional sports in Slovakia would turn down a chance to sign with the Knicks or Browns. If there are other similar teams in the mix then yeah, sure. If West Ham is the only serious player, though, then I'd go in a heartbeat. 




#1360201 Danish GK David Jensen, English RB Mandela Egbo

Posted by thoward18 on 28 January 2020 - 10:49 PM

Which doesn't make too much sense since Robles didn't have any significant dip in his performance. 

I'm not sure. In terms of pure shot stopping he was statistically average last season. Then you get into distribution, organizing, and commanding the box, which are harder to evaluate from afar. They have a wealth of data to work with. 

 

When you want to play with a high line, a goalkeeper heading towards age 37 isn't generally conducive. I think a lot of people are evaluating Robles with their hearts rather than their heads.




#1360135 Danish GK David Jensen, English RB Mandela Egbo

Posted by thoward18 on 28 January 2020 - 03:59 PM

Egbo has managed to play 5 times this season for 12th-place Darmstadt of the German 2.Bundesliga. He started a couple of games at the beginning of the season, but hasn't made a first team appearance since August. Last season, he played for Monchengladbach II in the fourth division and racked up 8 yellows and 2 reds in 24 games.

Great use of an international spot.

I don't know anything about Jensen, but it doesn't say great things that he got beaten out for the starting job this season by a 21-year-old from the reserve team.

I really dislike evaluations like this. Imagine being an Anderlecht fan and evaluating the Murillo transfer based on the fact that he lost starts to Duncan and Buckmaster. That's not to say that game info isn't relevant context but there's a lot that goes into why a player did or didn't get games. 




#1360131 Danish GK David Jensen, English RB Mandela Egbo

Posted by thoward18 on 28 January 2020 - 03:39 PM

So do we have any intel on these two guys or are we just going to do the usual of evaluating these moves based off of FIFA ratings and youtube videos? I imagine Egbo is a tough evaluation but has anyone watched Utrecht?




#1360055 "There is no Offseason" 2020 Thread

Posted by thoward18 on 27 January 2020 - 09:49 PM

Also the league is moving away from the 2015 model of success. The window for winning a cup with the moneyball approach is just about closed. Need higher end talent now, especially against playoff-quality teams.

No, Moneyball can and has 100% worked. If we added guys who were similar caliber to Grella, Lawrence, and Murillo we would be in a good position. I could buy into a plan where they acquire a bunch of players from cheap, less scouted areas of the world and insist they can be just as good at a fraction of the price. If they insisted the CM they bought from Panama would cost $2M more if he was Argentinian then fair enough.

 

 

Moneyball still requires actually acquiring players. The Oakland A's didn't exclusively build a roster out of minor leaguers. This isn't Moneyball. This is being cheap. They're not interchangeable terms. 




#1359696 Sam Cosgrove (and Lawrence Shankland)

Posted by thoward18 on 22 January 2020 - 09:11 PM

 

I think the point was more that clubs don't tend to actually play guys who are imminently outbound because they don't want an injury to tank the deal. Writing on the wall here is that we're not actually anywhere close to a deal for this guy.

So because he's not imminent, it means he's a "miss"? Tomorrow morning or never? Those are the two choices? 




#1359540 Bobby Edwards from the Northern Irish second division

Posted by thoward18 on 20 January 2020 - 04:47 PM

You're not concerned that this team has tons of holes and yet Hamlett keeps chasing goalkeepers?

Are we reading the same rumors? I see that we were weakly linked to one (1) goalkeeper in Belgium, and we've added this one guy on trial. Meanwhile, we've been linked to like 10 different outfield players.




#1359533 Bobby Edwards from the Northern Irish second division

Posted by thoward18 on 20 January 2020 - 02:46 PM

RBGlobal sure do have what's best for this team in mind:

 

https://twitter.com/...339170839134208

 

#Sarcasm 

This team has a million problems worth complaining about but I don't really see why bringing a goalkeeper in on trial should be one of them.




#1359150 "There is no Offseason" 2020 Thread

Posted by thoward18 on 14 January 2020 - 04:03 PM

I'm sorry you don't like it but the complaining from the fan base is here to stay unless the team actually goes out and signs players. You're just going to have to get used to it or avoid all social media/forums from now on.

There are dozens of people at this very moment talking about the Flores signing on Red Bull Facebook pages. To think all of them are going to stop complaining because you don't like reading it, lol

Dude go bitch about it all you want! Just do it in an appropriate thread!




#1359139 "There is no Offseason" 2020 Thread

Posted by thoward18 on 14 January 2020 - 01:57 PM

DC United sign Peru's starting winger for the entirety of the 2018 World Cup.

Red Bull? They announce this guy.

We get it. The team is cheap and hasn't made any made any meaningful moves for the first team. We have like eight different threads and a front page clock dedicated to that problem. I don't need to be reminded of it every time they sign a really good 17-year-old or announce a new ice cream flavor at the concession stands. 




#1359089 2020 "Super"Draft Thread

Posted by thoward18 on 13 January 2020 - 03:32 PM

Looks like we took another attacking guy from loyla Maryland.


To me it's terrifying we're going after attacking mids, that's the position we need super star quality like vela, Nico lodero.

I'd rather see us go after CB depth and fullbacks and maybe a CDM.

You can't be picky in the later rounds of the SuperDraft. We already acknowledge that the pool of players is weak even after, like, the first 5 picks. You take the guys you think have the most potential to give you a relevant player. 




#1358847 2020 "Super"Draft Thread

Posted by thoward18 on 09 January 2020 - 02:13 PM

So is this Cherif guy better than Etienne? Doubt it.

 

And Etienne is only a year older.

Probably not, but also Etienne is probably not someone who could be happily signed to a second-team contract. I'd guess the flexibility is what matters there.