Walsh has bought some very good players and we certainly have some youngsters who can go all the way. My issues with him are:
1. Allowed too much turnover of playing staff
2. Hasn’t addressed glaring issues such as striker and LB
3. Hasn’t signed a low profile ‘who the fuck is he? Oh, he’s really fucking good!’ player from abroad - where’s the scouting genius?
As much as not getting a striker grabs the headlines, it’s only having one LB at the club which really pisses me off. It’s bordering on gross negligence. And it’s not like we’re short of money? If Walsh can’t find a young LB that can share Baines’ workload with a view to establishing himself as a starter, then why’s he here?
1. That's more Koeman. He probably wanted Niasse, McCarthy, Barkley sold as well and is complaining about not getting others. Koeman didn't have to change entire first team, we only sold a couple of key first team players, yet he played 7-8 new ones each game.
2. We have more options than last year in those places, Lukaku was always going to be difficult to replace. DCL, Sandro, Niasse and Rooney offer strength in numbers and options. We were never going to be able to find a like for like replacement for Lukaku, there isn't one. Garbutt might be a decent left back given a chance and we only signed Lewis Gibson few months back.
3. Most hadn't heard much about Sandro. Nobody really noticed Vlasic, even when he played against us. Lookman was not someone I was aware of. Onyekuru was someone I knew was highly rated, but a fair bit obscure.
I thought first summer we didn't actually get that many of the type of exciting young player you wanted, Sambou in under 23s. But this year I thought we definitely did. DCL, Lookman in January, Vlasic, Sandro, Pickford, Klaassen, Keane, Onyekuru in summer. Then we also added 5 more players to under 23s, Adeniran, Bowler, Gibson, Mathis, Markelo.
At Leicester it wasn't overnight that Mahrez, Vardy were success stories, it takes time to settle and talent to emerge. Walsh is able to attract young talented players from higher up the chain, but whether he is right on some or wrong on them all, we'll have to see.
Just think a lot of the players need to be thought of as not finished article, but with potential to grow into. This summer I think there is a lot of that, it's just not reached the surface yet, and that's to be expected initially. But Vlasic, Pickford look ready and I think we'll start to see others coming through over the season and some further in future than that. Onyekuru for example will probably need next season to settle and adjust, so probably looking 2 seasons down the line before performances justify faith and expectations.
Topic: Should we sack Steve Walsh? (Read 53593 times)
