Fan Letters: Defensive woes, Patrick Roberts and wage bill versus league position perspective!
12/02/2024 02:15 AM
Dropped points always prompt people to email in! Send us your thoughts: RokerReport@Yahoo.co.uk
Dear Roker Report,
Once again the most divisive player is a source of argument. I would like to make a point that hasn't been raised.
On Friday, he had a penalty saved, it wasn't a good effort, but it was saved.
He then showed his true character by going missing. I have watched the lads since the 50s, and I have seen many players not as gifted as Roberts, but I've never seen any with his lack of bottle, heart or whatever you want to call it.
I well remember young lads like Gordon Armstrong and even Bobby Kerr getting terrible stick at Roker because they never hid even when things were against them.
Jim Wales
Ed's note [Martin]. Thanks for the email Jim. Don't think it's a lack of bottle at all, think it's a lack of confidence with Patrick Roberts at the moment. I think Roberts is the type of player who keeps on putting a shift in, which is demonstrated by his tackling back stats this season, but it's just not quite clicking for him at the moment. It will, he's a very good player and will come good again – suspect it's probably time he has a spell on the bench though and hopefully he can impact games from the bench.
Dear Roker Report,
We must tighten the defence with about 20 minutes to go, as we are letting the opponents do better than us. Why do we drop points in the 2nd half?
I am not alone in stating that Dan Neil is not up to our high standards. His last few games have been well below par for a captain – he is not up to the job and should be replaced.
If we are to keep up our promotion prospects we should keep the strongest team available. One or two players need to be rested if they aren't on form. If players are tired with 30 minutes to go sub them – we have 5 subs to play with. Other teams do this. Maybe we are over training.
Am I saying the wrong things as my last 3 letters have been ignored?
Cheers
Bill Calvert
Ed's note [Martin]. Thanks for the email Bill - not sure about your last three letters but I think there are various reasons why we're conceding late recently. Against Sheffield we did try to tighten the defence by bringing on Alese and pushing O'Nien back into the centre of defence; against Millwall we pushed up too much and weren't cynical enough as they countered. On Dan Neil, he's an excellent play but he's out of position in my view - once Salis is fit he'll likely come into that defensive midfield role, which leaves Neil competing with Rigg and Jobe further forward, which will be interesting.
Dear Roker Report,
In response to Chas 445's comments about RLB's reluctance to make substitutions, can I suggest that possibly he doesn't think they are good enough or ready to make a difference?
Harking back to my major gripe last season and beyond, we've brought in dozens, yes dozens of players from all over Europe who have made little or no impression on the first team. A bulge (collective noun?) are still here and others thank goodness have gone. We've even brought in three injured players who are still unavailable three months after they arrived. The promise is that they'll be good when they are fit!
In my opinion, we're still carrying too much-imported dead weight, which is costing us money and holding back the development of our home-grown players. I've also lost track of the number of imports who are out of loan 'cos they're not quite ready.
That's it for 2024, I'll sit back and enjoy reading the hopes, fears, highs and lows of other supporters until 2025.
Ha'way the Lads and All the Best.
Alan Jackson
Ed's note [Martin]. Hi Alan, I made the same point as you open with on a podcast recently – I don't think it's down to choice that Le Bris isn't making many subs, I think he doesn't rate the players on the bench too much. We can debate the merits of individuals all day, but Le Bris is seeing them on the training ground and I reckon he's got about 15-16 players he actually fancies. Regardless of what he says about signings in January, I wouldn't be surprised if it's a pretty busy window with a number going out and replacements going in.
Dear Roker Report,
A tip, it would be interesting to write about league wage budgets (see the Google search here). It seems like we currently have the 14th biggest wage budget in the league. Up from around the 5th lowest last season if I remember correctly.
So it would seem like we once again overperform compared to the wage budget. This is perhaps also a reminder that we should temper expectations. Le Bris might be overperforming, like Mowbray and perhaps Alex Neil did before him.
Best regards,
Dan
Ed's note [Martin]. It's a good point Dan and an important perspective – although as we've seen in past years, wage bills account for very little on the field, and how reliable they are in terms of fact is debatable too. That said, we know we're competing against clubs with significant budgets through parachute payments etc, which makes it a challenge. If you fancy submitting an article about it, go ahead! rokerreport@yahoo.co.uk.
