Harry Darling …

[Swans Jack]

This was my impression of him

His awareness (or lack thereof) of what is going on around him is a huge weakness, against Millwall he was moving at a job waiting for a ball to run through to Vigouroux not aware at all of a player closing him down, that player overturned a 10 yard head start when Delcroix was only about 5 yards away from the ball, got there first and his shot only just narrowly blazed over the bar.

Against Oxford there couldn't be any argument for nerves, there was absolutely nothing riding on the game and it was a dead rubber in every way. He consistently gave the ball away, sold himself rushing in to tackles he was never going to win, gave away stupid free kicks giving Oxford the chance to flood the box for set pieces and was at least moderately culpable for two of the three goals we conceded. His daft foul gave the free kick away for the first and he was caught ball watching for the second letting someone again get a run on him and get to the loose ball first.

Spot on assessment. It funny cos Sheehan in post match strongly pointed out the way we conceeded, like we did yesterday and it was not like us - as of recently performances and the team knew the goals would come from set plays and us giving it away. I highly doubt he will come back. If Darling goes and what is being said he has 1 week to make his mind up then we have to get a solid (physical) player. With Wales coming in this will add more physical presence in the team. Something we have been bullied for years. We are not suddenly going to solve this issue and it's always about the right blend. But defensively we have played with fire for a few seasons. We not only need replacement for Darling if he goes but a solid back up for Cabango and then add into mix Naughton replacement who needs to be challenging Key. Key needs to really step up also. Though improved under Sheehan, he still needs to work on when to release the ball and defense. Tymon is not immune from that and has admitted he needs to work on it. If it wasn't for Tymon assists and how creative he is I would be looking for a replacement, but stays due to this. But alot of teams identify Tymon as weakness to attack.

 

[bakajack]

What we need is an experienced older defender who doesn't mind being a squad player but is always ready to step in and do a job. Remember when we had exactly that in Ryan Bennett who was bombed out of the club by Martin because he could not / would not play his suicidal brand of football?

 

[Derwydd]

What we need is an experienced older defender who doesn't mind being a squad player but is always ready to step in and do a job. Remember when we had exactly that in Ryan Bennett who was bombed out of the club by Martin because he could not / would not play his suicidal brand of football?

Matty Pearson on a free from Huddersfield. 31. 6ft 3, Six years championship experience, scores 4 / 5 a season

 

[bakajack]

Matty Pearson on a free from Huddersfield. 31. 6ft 3, Six years championship experience, scores 4 / 5 a season

With Naughts and Joe now gone and Ginnelly touch and go if we will ever see him again we have only Vigouroux over the age of 26, the club is in desperate need of an experienced head or two who have been there and seen it all to help out in the dressing room.

Not sure if Pearson would fit the profile in terms of playing style without trying to find highlights of him but the rest fits, no fee probably low end for wages and able to step in if needed but mostly a guiding hand for the others.

 

[Swanjaxs]

I would be happy for Darling to hang around (on reasonable terms), but I wouldn't let this drag on through the summer. A deadline should be set, then the offer revoked. I am hopeful for a vastly stronger squad next season moving forward, and we have bigger fish to fry than Harry Darling.