[dim view]

To the Winchester, on 26 July 2022 - 07:03 AM, said:

Same must be said for calvin Miller and Laurence maguire then, no?

We're not even playing him up front. Once Cooper is up to speed we'll have Cooper, gyasi, uchegbulam and dobra that can play on the left.

Danny rowe, jack Clarke, dobra and Mandeville can play CAM

Do we need him? Wouldn't his wages be better spent elsewhere? He'll have a lot of competition this season so can't just come off "injured" when he's playing poorly.

Call me an optimist, but I'm now thinking in terms of being able to win matches without Tshimanga, Rowe, or Clarke being in the side.

It's mostly just guesswork but I have Gyasi, Dobra, Cooper as their replacements in my best team. Dobra for Rowe, in particular, seems an unlikely like for like but I see very similar qualities in their play. Class on the ball and accurate passing.

As you say, there's maybe a question mark at the moment about Cooper's fitness and perhaps also Gyasi's. Under those circumstances then Asante is a very valuable squad member. My observation is that I've seen 100% commitment but very few goal attempts from him but that is maybe very harsh and if he gets one he'll get lots.

[prolurker]

Remembering the NL transfer window aswell it would be smart to keep hold of AA until we know what's happening with Kabby Rowe and Clarke. Could be an essential player if we're not seeing any of those at full fitness for the first weeks/months of the season?

[LondonBlue]

Asante is miles better than strikers we’ve had in the past. We have Kabby returning from a nasty injury with no guarantee of his return to form. Danny Rowe is hardly a spring chicken and whether he makes a full recovery or not remains to be seen. That leaves us with Asante, Quigley and Gyasi. I know who id want leading the line and it’s Asante.

[metallilad]

dim view, on 26 July 2022 - 08:05 AM, said:

Call me an optimist, but I'm now thinking in terms of being able to win matches without Tshimanga, Rowe, or Clarke being in the side.

It's mostly just guesswork but I have Gyasi, Dobra, Cooper as their replacements in my best team. Dobra for Rowe, in particular, seems an unlikely like for like but I see very similar qualities in their play. Class on the ball and accurate passing.

As you say, there's maybe a question mark at the moment about Cooper's fitness and perhaps also Gyasi's. Under those circumstances then Asante is a very valuable squad member. My observation is that I've seen 100% commitment but very few goal attempts from him but that is maybe very harsh and if he gets one he'll get lots.

Why is there a question mark over Cooper and Gyasi's fitness?

[LondonBlue]

metallilad, on 26 July 2022 - 08:46 AM, said:

Why is there a question mark over Cooper and Gyasi's fitness?

Cooper is coming back from a long term injury and Gary Roberts mentioned he needs extra minutes under his belt so we may be organising an additional friendly. No idea why Gyasi wouldn’t be fit though.

[dim view]

LondonBlue, on 26 July 2022 - 08:48 AM, said:

Cooper is coming back from a long term injury and Gary Roberts mentioned he needs extra minutes under his belt so we may be organising an additional friendly. No idea why Gyasi wouldn’t be fit though.

Just a thought based on the number of minutes he got in the two matches I watched. I may well be wrong.

[lindave]

LondonBlue, on 26 July 2022 - 08:45 AM, said:

Asante is miles better than strikers we’ve had in the past. We have Kabby returning from a nasty injury with no guarantee of his return to form. Danny Rowe is hardly a spring chicken and whether he makes a full recovery or not remains to be seen. That leaves us with Asante, Quigley and Gyasi. I know who id want leading the line and it’s Asante.

Asante is the one I trust to come good again, he played well .against Bradford. He came back too early bit you can see he is looking a lot sharper now he is having a tough pre season with Cooky. Good to see Quigs.hitting the back of the net along with Dobra, ZGyasi isn't a proven scorer yet but he is an exciting prospect. If we are to push for the title we need Kabby and Danny in the team fully fit.Cooky has made some awesome signings, all we need now is a fair share of luck and injury free. It's going to be an exciting season.COYB.

[To the Winchester]

LondonBlue, on 26 July 2022 - 08:45 AM, said:

Asante is miles better than strikers we’ve had in the past. We have Kabby returning from a nasty injury with no guarantee of his return to form. Danny Rowe is hardly a spring chicken and whether he makes a full recovery or not remains to be seen. That leaves us with Asante, Quigley and Gyasi. I know who id want leading the line and it’s Asante.

If we'd signed asante last season when we signed quigley, we'd have already written him off. It's alright trying hard when you've been transfer listed, doesn't cut it for me.

I know who I've been more impressed with pre season and it's quigley.

But more to the point... he's not been playing up front.

[JonB]

To the Winchester, on 26 July 2022 - 09:14 AM, said:

If we'd signed asante last season when we signed quigley, we'd have already written him off. It's alright trying hard when you've been transfer listed, doesn't cut it for me.

I know who I've been more impressed with pre season and it's quigley.

But more to the point... he's not been playing up front.

I think the thing with Asante is he bought himself a bit of leeway because we have seen what he can do. He played a massive part in the turnaround when he first joined and then has had a nasty injury and was rushed back to an extent due to Tshimanga's injury playing far more sooner than he probably should have. He looked leggy especially towards the end of the season. He probably deserves a change to get a proper pre season in him.

[Goku]

To the Winchester, on 26 July 2022 - 09:14 AM, said:

If we'd signed asante last season when we signed quigley, we'd have already written him off. It's alright trying hard when you've been transfer listed, doesn't cut it for me.

I know who I've been more impressed with pre season and it's quigley.

But more to the point... he's not been playing up front.

Don't see how he wasn't trying hard when he wasn't transfer listed. Just seemed to me like he was rushed back.

[To the Winchester]

Goku, on 26 July 2022 - 09:18 AM, said:

Don't see how he wasn't trying hard when he wasn't transfer listed. Just seemed to me like he was rushed back.

Our old manager had a habit of that. I don't know. Just some games he didn't look bothered. Might not be the case though. I'm happy for him to stay and fight for a place, but equally I'm not entirely convinced by him playing attacking midfield.

I think pre season he's looked like he's been putting effort in, but personally I think people are exaggerating his performances. They've been OK.

[plannerj]

To the Winchester, on 26 July 2022 - 09:24 AM, said:

Our old manager had a habit of that. I don't know. Just some games he didn't look bothered. Might not be the case though. I'm happy for him to stay and fight for a place, but equally I'm not entirely convinced by him playing attacking midfield.

I think pre season he's looked like he's been putting effort in, but personally I think people are exaggerating his performances. They've been OK.

I think you’re exaggerating with your perception that he wasn’t trying hard enough for you. How can you assess what he was going through post a serious injury? It wasn’t his first serious injury either.

[To the Winchester]

plannerj, on 26 July 2022 - 09:45 AM, said:

I think you’re exaggerating with your perception that he wasn’t trying hard enough for you. How can you assess what he was going through post a serious injury? It wasn’t his first serious injury either.

You've literally just said the same as Goku but in a more emotional way.

He may have been rushed back. It looked like he wasn't bothered, but not everything is what it looks like.

What I'm saying is this pre-season he's been OK, working hard without being spectacular.

This post has been edited by To the Winchester: 26 July 2022 - 10:06 AM

[LondonBlue]

Goku, on 26 July 2022 - 09:18 AM, said:

Don't see how he wasn't trying hard when he wasn't transfer listed. Just seemed to me like he was rushed back.

Agreed. To me he looked completely burnt out after a few games. There was a period when he came back and was up top with Kabby where we looked devastating (think Stockport away). Kabby then got snapped and the whole weight fell onto Asante - he wasn’t fit enough to pick up that mantle IMO.

I’m willing to give him a chance because in my eyes he is a quality player at this level when fit. I have a feeling we won’t see Danny Rowe again - he’s not been mentioned at all this pre season. I’m hopeful Kabby comes back the same player but we must be careful with him so we don’t burn him out. I fancy Asante to start up top against Dorking with Quigley on the bench.

[azul]

To the Winchester, on 26 July 2022 - 09:24 AM, said:

Our old manager had a habit of that. I don't know. Just some games he didn't look bothered. Might not be the case though. I'm happy for him to stay and fight for a place, but equally I'm not entirely convinced by him playing attacking midfield.

I think pre season he's looked like he's been putting effort in, but personally I think people are exaggerating his performances. They've been OK.

I agree with the others, he looked like he was working hard to me last season. I reckon this idea that he was being lazy is at least in part down to a conspiracy about him being Rowe’s man.

With no sign of Tshimanga or Danny Rowe it is an easy decision to at least delay his departure.

[JonB]

Seems Cook thinks he is worthwhile hanging on to as well currently based on the latest DT story.

[To the Winchester]

JonB, on 26 July 2022 - 11:32 AM, said:

Seems Cook thinks he is worthwhile hanging on to as well currently based on the latest DT story.

The quote was from Mike Goodwin on the we are sailing podcast. If he can get back to his best he's worth keeping, but the trouble is we play one up front. We'll see.

Cook looks to have built a great squad. Couple more and we're done and have a real chance.

[Sammy Spireite]

JonB, on 26 July 2022 - 11:32 AM, said:

Seems Cook thinks he is worthwhile hanging on to as well currently based on the latest DT story.

I'm not convinced, unless KT has suffered a set back.

If you want to sell your car, (and free the money up tied in it) you need to advertise it.

[The Whistler]

Sammy Spireite, on 26 July 2022 - 12:16 PM, said:

I'm not convinced, unless KT has suffered a set back.

If you want to sell your car, (and free the money up tied in it) you need to advertise it.

Asante does not need to advertise himself. I have been told he had a number of clubs after him in the top half of the NL. He wanted to remain and prove that he needed a pre-season which he missed last season.

It was only 6 months ago Southend initially offered 100k for him. It was turned down.


From the friendlies I have seen it appears that Asante is one of the three behind Quigley.

[spireitetoo]

The Whistler, on 26 July 2022 - 01:03 PM, said:

Asante does not need to advertise himself. I have been told he had a number of clubs after him in the top half of the NL. He wanted to remain and prove that he needed a pre-season which he missed last season.

It was only 6 months ago Southend initially offered 100k for him. It was turned down.


From the friendlies I have seen it appears that Asante is one of the three behind Quigley.

Only while Clarke, Rowe, Cooper, and maybe Gyasi get up to speed, then it's a back seat for him..