Jack Crosland poses the question: is our squad good enough?
There has been a lot of talk recently surrounding the future of Neil Lennon, Phil Gartside and owner Eddie Davies. Whilst I agree there is no way the club will progress long term until a new owner is found, the short term challenge is to address the horrendous start to the season which has seen The Whites pick up 1 win from 15 games, but is the squad good enough to keep us up?
Goalkeepers
The fact Paul Rachubka is employed at Bolton Wanderers highlights the desperate financial situation we find ourselves in. Is he any better than Ross Fitzsimmons? I have my doubts. Thankfully our first choice stopper is probably one of the best we`ve had for a while. Ben Amos has the experience of working with top coaches at United and now he`s playing week in, week out he should only get better. No doubts the problems lie elsewhere.
Defence
At left back our options look fairly strong with Dean Moxey certainly good enough to keep us in the league and in his absence the impressive Casado has been a rare positive in an otherwise dismal run. In the heart of defence Dorian Dervite, David Wheater, Prince and Derik are vying for a place. Are they the best in the league? No. Are they good enough to keep us in the league? Yes! David Wheater was a top centre back in the Premier League at one time and, although his form seems to be suffering with everyone elses, Prince Desir looked a class act when he burst on the scene against Derby County. Dervite is solid enough and Derik is not a bad option for the time being. Derik will have to adapt to English football and that will take time, unfortunately time isn`t on our side, long term though he is a good edition. Right Back seems to be where the problems lie. Pisano seems out of favour at the moment and, like most Wanderers fans, I remain unconvinced by Lawrie Wilson. The lack of confidence in either of the pair was highlighted by Lennon using Josh Vela, Derik and Prince there in recent weeks. If Lennon can find a quartet out of that lot that can spark a consistent run of form we will be okay and it`s far from an impossible task.
Midfield
It`s easy to forget a midfield partnership of Neil Danns and Darren Pratley saw us fly up the table under Lennon last year. Both haven`t got anywhere near them standards this season and it` hard to put your finger on why. Pratley`s injury obviously has kept him out of most games but Danns looks a different player to the all action ball winner we saw last season. Mark Davies` early run of form was encouraging but seems to have dropped off. Josh Vela and Jay Spearing are the preferred options at present and whilst I like both players as individuals I`m not convinced they are the best partnership available. Whether new recruit Luke Brattan will force his way into the picture remains to be seen but if Neil Lennon can`t get a tune out of that group of midfielders he really is struggling. Again, is it enough to get you promoted? No. But surely there are 3 sides in the division with options weaker than ours?
Attack
Here, unarguably, is where the problems are stemming. Max Clayton is a very talented player and if he was surrounded by better players I think he would excel, alas he has Liam Feeney for company as our only real wide options now Wellington Silva is injured. The sooner Clough comes back the better and I`d be genuinely excited to see Silva, Clough and Clayton behind the striker but in the short term it isn`t an option. Gary Madine has struggled to replicate his pre season form. Would it have been different if one of those headers that smacked the bar on the opening day had gone in? Maybe. But he simply isn`t good enough to be the main man. Then we have the double act of Emile Heskey and Shola Ameobi. Both these players have played at a higher standard than the championship and whilst Heskey looks close to calling it a day, Ameobi should be able to do a job until the end of the season, but he won`t score you enough goals. The problem Neil Lennon is facing is simple. Out of everyone mentioned in this article.. Who would you back to score you a goal? We all know if Neil Lennon had the money he would bring a goal scorer in tomorrow, but he doesn`t. This is the first time when I ask the question: ‘is it good enough to keep us in the Championship?` The answer is ‘probably not`.