Would you keep any of the loan players?

Colin Warnek

Colin Warnek

Well-known member
For me none.

Ayling - No - he's good but with Smith to return, surely we're better off signing a young RB. Let Dijksteel go as well, he's been a good servant but too injury prone.

Greenwood - No - great start but has badly regressed. Don't want to watch him stroll around in a red shirt any more.

O'Brien - No - he is very hit and miss. Sometimes shows good pace and work rate but then passes straight to the opposition.

Thomas - No - shown nothing to say he's better than Engel, which is not the highest bar either.

That's 4 off the wage bill straight away.
 
I would consider Ayling for his experience, I expect wages would be an issue even if we wanted to keep O’Brien. Greenwood’s not what we need, obvious talent, but not sure what he brings and would have Silvera ahead of him now.
 
I don't mind Ayling, but he's not a long term option.

Can't decide on O'Brien, he'll still be building up fitness after a long injury and he's shown occasional flashes.
Forest will be needing a firesale, so we might be able to get him for an okay price.

Definitely no on Thomas and Greenwood.
 
Ayling, I’m open to it if Smith comes back not the same player. But I only want one of Ayling or Smith here and a younger first choice. Time for Dijksteel to go.

O’Brien, without been massively impressed so far I’ve got to factor in he’s still building himself up after a serious injury and he is a player I’ve rated previous to him coming to Boro. As mentioned we could probably get him at a cut price and it’s a position we are short in so yeah I think I’d be happy to see him sign.

Thomas - no. Not good enough.

Greenwood - no. Started well but can’t remember the last time he had a good game. We can do better. Imagine he will end up on loan again, maybe to Sunderland.
 
No
GK- Brynn , Hemming , Roberts - Dieng / Glover / Jones.
RB - Brook Norton Cuffy/ Kaine Kesler Hayden & Danny McNamara - Ayling / Dijksteel
LB - Max Lowe , Harrison Burrows , Rhys Norrington Davies,Sam McCallum, Sam Byram , Charlie Taylor ,- Luke Thomas / Engel/ Coulson.
CH - Krejci , Helik,N Wood ,Jake Cooper - Mcnair/ Lenahan / Fry.
CM - Alan Browne , Alex Mowatt Hector Kyprianou , Luca Connell- Obrien / Barlaser, and ease Howson out.
AM- Ohare, Chair, T Dolan , S Thomas , Pavel Sulc - Gilbert / Greenwood .
CF - Saldanha, Chytil, Stansfield, Gallagher, Bair,Knibbs- Hoppe, Rogers.

Sell - Dieng, Glover, Jamie Jones, Fry , Lenahan , Dijksteel,Engel,Barlaser,Coulson Hoppe. If possible.
Return Ayling , Thomas, Obrien,Greenwood.
Some turn over .
 
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Maybe O Brien, but his wages will be an issue? It depends on his contract at Forest, if he has a relegation clause and a significant drop in wages.

With him I just keep thinking back to the Leicester game where he was great….but then again we have too many lightweight midfielders.
 
O'brien is ok, the others I wouldn't have back. Ayling is finished, Greenwood non existent and as someone mentioned on Thomas he isn't an upgrade on Engel and he is not particularly very good either.
 
Good question this because I think only Thomas has been a complete write off.

I think OBrien can play but clearly has been affected by injury, I would have him at the right price.

Greenwood is ok, he’s still a young developing player, but not for big money or wages at this stage.

Ayling is what he is, not the most talented player in the world but he puts a shift in and never hides, again ok if the price is right.
 
I suppose it depends what the alternatives are. All of the loan players will be on substantial wages, id hope the recruitment team could come up with better value targets.
 
Greenwood definitely no. Ayling - yes but wouldn't be upset if he didn't stay. We need a good new RWB. O'Brien - yes as I can see him improving and hope we can keep him. He showed enough for me at Leicester that he has it. Thomas - absolutely not.
 
I'd be tempted to offer Ayling a one year deal. We definitely need to sign a RB but I'm not sure whether having Smith as back-up would be enough (I expect Djiksteel to leave).

Smith is very injury prone, so if we find ourselves in a situation where both Smith and the new RB are injured at the same time, we could have a problem. Ayling would provide us with that extra bit of cover.

I'd take O'Brien back on loan but only if Forest get desperate and allow us to contribute 50% of his wages.
 
I wouldn’t keep any of them. 10th in the second division and promotion out of the equation before Easter, there’s only a handful of players I’d be sad to see depart to be honest.

Dieng, Rav, Clarke, Hackney, Howson, Jones, Coburn, Latte Lath.

I like Forss, McGree and Lenihan but they’ve barely played this season. Same for Smith. Dijksteel is injury prone. Barlaser only does it in bursts. Silvera is young and pretty hit and miss. Engel is a strange one, he’d benefit from a disciplined or better quality player in front of him. Bangura we’ve barely seen, same for Gilbert. McNair has spent large swathes of the season injured, as has Fry.

The loan players have been very, very poor across the piece. O’Brien has been unfortunate with his injury to be fair. Greenwood, Ayling, Thomas? Is there any point in spending money on these players again next season? I don’t think so.

There’s too many injuries and too many out of form players. I’d wager that if we were in the top six looking up like we were this time left year then quite a few of these injuries wouldn’t be happening and players would be itching to play. I think some of them are shirking responsibilities tbh. There is something not right.
 
3 maybes & 1 no.

Ayling - Maybe - he's solid but not a massive upgrade over Smith.

Greenwood - Maybe - Started well but with the upheaval in the team due to injuries & selling Rogers hasn't maintained it. However I can't see him taking a cut in wages to come here, so I don't think he'd sign permanently.

O'Brien - Maybe - thought he did well against Leicester but yesterday was man-marking Smallboner and couldn't keep up. He's definitely half the player he was. I think we'd be signing hoping he could recover his previous levels rather than what he's done with us.

Thomas - No - shown nothing to say he's better than Engel, which is not the highest bar either.
 
viv_andersons_nana said:
There’s too many injuries and too many out of form players. I’d wager that if we were in the top six looking up like we were this time left year then quite a few of these injuries wouldn’t be happening and players would be itching to play. I think some of them are shirking responsibilities tbh. There is something not right.
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Interesting.
 
I'd have Smith or Ayling, and look for a new RB/RWB. Don't mind having a solid veteran back up.

I don't mind Dijksteel but I don't think he's MC's cup of tea, so I'll back his judgement.

Thompson and Greenwood, no.

O'Brien is a maybe if they money is right, but I don't see it as essential that he stays.

I don't think we're massively weaker for losing any of them, which is a very different situation to this time last year.
 
None of them. We'd be kicking ourselves if a midfielder became available next year who could drop down and shine like Ramirez did in the promotion season, but our wage bill was encumbered by 'meh' players who are 5/10 most weeks.
 
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