Quote Originally Posted by nw6pie View Post
As we come towards the end of the year, it seems a good time to look back on the recruitment and see who’s been a hit and who’s been a miss. Some of these might be a little unfair given their limited game time, but that in itself also tells its own story…

Jodi Jones - HIT
Junior Morias - MISS
Dan Crowley - HIT
Will Randall - MISS
David McGoldrick - HIT
Ollie Tipton - MISS
Lewis Macari HIT (though HIT AND MISS might be aptest here)
Dan Gosling - MISS
Aiden Stone - MISS
I don't count Junior Morias and Will Randall as misses, because we haven't seen enough of either to draw a final conclusion.

I actually quite like the little I've seen of Junior, whose work-rate and general attitude are really good, and on the couple of occasions he's partnered Langstaff up front I thought they worked together well, in fact arguably better than McGoldrick and Langstaff.

It's fair to say we've not seen anything from Will Randall yet to put him in the 'hit' category, in fact his performances have been non-descript, but again he's been unfortunate with injury. If he's primarily the back-up to Jodi Jones then he was always going to find it tough to displace someone good enough to play at Championship level.

I think there should be 'massive hit' category for Jodi and Dan Crowley, because 'hit' doesn't do them justice. Never mind being the best two signings of the past year, they've arguably been two of the best signings of the past 20 years.

Dan Gosling, on yesterday's performance, would rank as a 'miss', but I don't think he was helped by being asked to replace Bostock rather than play alongside him. Gosling has spent his entire career at the higher level and I'm still willing to believe that once he's fully fit and up to speed with the way we play, we'll see the best of him. If we can get Gosling and Bostock playing together, then we'll finally have the physical presence we've conspicuously lacked in midfield. I haven't written Dan off yet, but Luke Williams will no doubt make his decision early in January.

Aidan Stone and Ollie Tipton I have to agree look like misses. Stone is inconsistent at best, which is the last thing you want in a goalkeeper, and he certainly hasn't proven himself to be a significant upgrade on Slocombe, which was what we were seeking. Tipton meanwhile, as you say, and unlike Lewis Macari, has not convinced LW that he's good enough to break into the first team despite opportunity knocking hard in the form of a very shaky defence.