Richie Wellens.. so far.

[theakston2k]

yeah it is a tough one, hes currently a half decent L2 player but he promises much more.

And stats show he’s had a half decent season, I think he gets unfair criticism at times.

If you take his stats in isolation he has 7 assists which is the 5th best in the league, he’s also in the top 10 for number of key passes made. His defensive contribution seems to ignored almost always, we are a small team and his heading ability is invaluable when defending set pieces and I can remember him making a number of key headers in our own box.

I’d argue that other than for a short period he’s been more effective than Isgrove who seems to get a free ride at the moment.

[Peter Venkman]

I don't see that much improvement in Woolery.

For me the improvements are not in his general attacking game its in his new found ability to jump and head the ball and his throw ins.

[Peter Venkman]

I’d argue that other than for a short period he’s been more effective than Isgrove who seems to get a free ride at the moment.

I would agree with that.

[Batch]

I don't see that much improvement in Woolery.

For me the improvements are not in his general attacking game its in his new found ability to jump and head the ball and his throw ins.

He is pretty handy in the air and defending set pieces.

didn't really take much notice of how he did on that last season, so you could be right.

[Reg Smeeton]

Jordan Henderson is one of the best players in the world in his position, yes.

And yet he never got nominated for the Ballon d'Or unlike a raft of other Liverpool players.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Ballon_d%27Or

[pauld]

And yet he never got nominated for the Ballon d'Or unlike a raft of other Liverpool players.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Ballon_d%27Or

And yet he's consistently been picked by successive managers who had other, more pundit friendly, choices available. Maybe the actual professionals who work with him know he's a better player than the pundits and journos like to think?

[DarloSTFC84]

And yet he's consistently been picked by successive managers who had other, more pundit friendly, choices available. Maybe the actual professionals who work with him know he's a better player than the pundits and journos like to think?

Completely agree.. I think the other thing is he's known for doing the ugly work.. most of the players on that list do the Gucci, more fashionable jobs.. players like Henderson don't get enough respect for clearing up the shit.

[Peter Venkman]

Talking about Woolery, Some interesting stats as of this week in L2.

Most accurate key passes
34 - Danny Mayor
34 - Randell Williams
30 - David Worrall
30 - Charlie Kirk
28 - Nicky Law
28 - Harry Pickering
26 - Tommy Lowery
25 - Nathan Thomas
25 - Bez Lubala
23 - Kaiyne Woolery

Most crosses
157 - Nicky Adams
131 - David Worrall
122 - Ibou Touray
110 - Randell Williams
101 - David Amoo
96 - Reece Grego-Cox
88 - Chris Hussey
86 - Luke Hannant
85 - Jordan Maguire-Drew

Most assists
10 - Charlie Kirk
9 - Randell Williams
8 - Nicky Adams
7 - Nicky Law
7 - Kaiyne Woolery
7 - George Cooper
6 - David Worrall
6 - Joseph Mills
6 - Craig Conway
6 - Chris Hussey

Most successful tackles
91 - Jay Harris
87 - Josh Sheehan
81 - Mike Jones
77 - Jake Hessenthaler
76 - Ebou Adams
74 - Mohamad Sylla
72 - George Tanner
70 - Connor Wood
67 - Alex Gilliead
64 - Anthony Grant
63 - Perry Ng

Most aerial duels won
265 - James Hanson
242 - Jordan Tunnicliffe
241 - Rory McArdle
229 - Luke Waterfall
224 - Leon Legge
217 - Fiacre Kelleher
216 - Scott Wharton
210 - Nathan Smith
201 - Ben Richards-Everton

Highest shots on target %*
63%: Vadaine Oliver, Joe Ironside
59%: Lee Novak
58%: Daniel Powell
53%: Eoin Doyle
51%: Luke Norris
50%: Nicky Maynard

[NotHarryAgombar]

My view is that RW has done an excellent job so far.
If we ignore the 0-4 loss to Carlisle the day after he was appointed, on the basis that he had no time to shape and influence how we set up for that one, it was clear from his first game that he had a clear idea of how he wanted to set the team up and play. It took a bit of time as some of the players signed by Flitcroft and Brown didn’t suit this style and had to be moved on.
He has had two full transfer windows and in both of those the squad was stronger at the end of it. We haven’t finished this window, and Level of success achieved by Yates and Doyle make this one a bit more tricky, but McGlashan and Diagoraga have gone, and Caddis, Grant, REG and Hope have come in or become permanent signings, with a week to go.
We play attractive football (the neck strengthening exercises we had to do to watch Flitcroft’s farmyard football are no longer necessary), and are top of the league wit 53 points from 28 games. This despite losing 3 defenders to season ending injuries - Ballard, Conroy and Iandolo - plus a number of other long term casualties.
He has improved a number of players - Anderson, Woolery and Iandolo come to mind - plus got incredible performances from Doyle and Yates.
I also sense he is attempting to build a squad which can not only get us promoted, but compete in League 1.
Negative points - poor cup results, and the lack of additional revenue from a good run / TV exposure, which could be helpful.
We should also remember that the club has a budget, and that does restrict our ability to sign some players, but I for one would prefer that to going down the Bolton / Southend / Bury or Macclesfield route - we have endured that too often in the past. We need not only to win promotion but have enough money to get a competitive team in league 1 next season.  On that point, I saw Akinde suggested as an option on the transfer rumour thread. My view is that if he isn’t up to League 1 (and the fact that Lincoln want to move him on suggests this is so) we should avoid him). Based on the fact that some teams have recently tended to yo-yo between L2 and L1 suggests a difference in standard is needed.
I am happy that RW has us on track - keep the faith!

[Flashheart]

He's fast becoming one of my favourite managers of all time. To lose your top 2 strikers and then win 3-0 is quite something. It puts an end to the negativity and has people looking at the top again.

I've a hunch that a bigger team will come in for him in the summer, but let's enjoy it while it lasts. If he keeps this up then he's got big things ahead of him.

[pauld]

I've a hunch that a bigger team will come in for him in the summer, but let's enjoy it while it lasts. If he keeps this up then he's got big things ahead of him.

Think you're right, if he resists those siren calls to instead take on the challenge of pushing us up to the Championship, I will get his face tattooed on my arse*



* I fucking won't, obviously. But I will be dead chuffed.

[suttonred]

All you have to bet is that you'll have your face tattoed on Audrey's arse. job done.

[normy]

I think Wellens has done an excellent job, which was confirmed for me yesterday with the win against PV, despite several key players not available. There should hopefully soon be good competition for places, even if GP and Yates don't return, and Donahue is not signed.

[OOH! SHAUN TAYLOR]

I think Wellens has done an excellent job, which was confirmed for me yesterday with the win against PV, despite several key players not available. There should hopefully soon be good competition for places, even if GP and Yates don't return, and Donahue is not signed.

3 signature wins for me this month which tell me Wellens has what it takes and that we are going up...

Plymouth (A)
Crewe (H)
Port Vale (H)

Keep knocking us down mother fuckers and we'll just bounce back again...

[pauld]

3 signature wins for me this month which tell me Wellens has what it takes and that we are going up...

Plymouth (A)
Crewe (H)
Port Vale (H)

Keep knocking us down mother fuckers and we'll just bounce back again...

Or to quote another manager of recent vintage "You can take all our strikers and we will weeen thees league anyway"