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Post by insertname on Jan 1, 2023 16:57:10 GMT
Fifth goal of the season for Tom, I think it's over now though, I don't see him getting another call up unless there's a plague that he avoids or he doubles his goals tally, both have as much chance of happening. He should have had more caps…but it’s over now |
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Post by rushy on Jan 1, 2023 18:55:08 GMT
He had a good day , got two and the other was his deflected shot that went in off a defender.
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Post by jimexotic on Jan 1, 2023 19:12:47 GMT
Two decent instinctive finishes, the deflected shot was probably going out for a throw in though!
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Post by cadno on Jan 1, 2023 22:56:01 GMT
Brilliant player. Ineligible for a call up unfortunately due to being over 25
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Post by surge on Jan 2, 2023 10:24:45 GMT
Brilliant player. Ineligible for a call up unfortunately due to being over 25 He's a decent Championship player but his best goal-scoring season is 8 goals in 18 games as a 29 year old. His second best season being an underrated 9 goals in 39 Championship games in relegated Barnsley side, and what Cardiff City wouldn't do for 9 goal striker this season! He's 5ft 8' and not massively creative for others. There are 4 international games before he turns 31. Attacking players usually start to decline once they pass 30, although that won't be true for everyone. My understanding of the working theory in Welsh football is players perform best between 25-30 and getting them as much experience of international football as possible before age of 25 gives them best chance of performing to highest possible level. Of course there will always be exceptions, and there might be something about giving players too much football too young leads to higher risk of injury later, but I'm not sure Bradshaw is the player I'm using as example of that working theory being flawed. He does prove that there are a few very decent players in Cymru Premier who can compete at Championship level mind. |
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Post by cadno on Jan 2, 2023 13:08:53 GMT
In terms of running the channels, keeping defenders on their toes, and bringing others into play, I think he’d be a really top addition to our team. He can do what Simon Church did so well, but he’s better in front of goal. His goal record is a similar one to Kieffer Moore, obviously Moore has scored a few at prem and intl level, but Bradshaw can count himself so unlucky not to be given a fair opportunity over the years. A Moore-Bradshaw front 2 could work so well like an old school big man small man tactic.
I like Mark Harris as well who’s obviously younger and has similar attributes, altho Bradshaw seems a little better in front of goal.
I don’t think the pool of players we have is big enough to have an ageist policy, we should be giving opportunities to players regardless of their age imo. Also, it’s not like we’re scoring loads of goals atm, might be worth looking at new systems and new players. Someone like Bradshaw could be a breath of fresh air, even if it’s the 70th minute and we need a goal I’d rather have Bradshaw on the bench than Tyler Roberts for example
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Post by conwy10 on Jan 2, 2023 13:22:29 GMT
He does prove that there are a few very decent players in Cymru Premier who can compete at Championship level mind. Does he prove that though? He was 18 when he played there and did really well moving to a league club after only a handful of games. If he was 27 playing in the Cymru Prem for 9 years moving to the Football League I'd agree. At best you could argue the Cymru Prem is an opportunity to put yourself in the spotlight. |
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Post by marsvolta on Jan 2, 2023 13:44:02 GMT
Brilliant player. Ineligible for a call up unfortunately due to being over 25 Keiffer Moore, Tom King, Wes Burns and James Lawrence say hi. |
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Post by cadno on Jan 2, 2023 14:43:37 GMT
😂 fair play 4 players over the last 5 years! Lawrence called up aged 26, Tom King hasn’t been capped and was 25 or 26 when called up. Fair enough Burns, although he was involved in squads under Cookie.
It’s not a theory that there’s an agenda to focus on young players, that’s clearly been the case for a few years now. It’s given players good experience and helped us out long term, but I think we should find a better balance now and look at building a squad that can qualify for Euro 2024 and not be pushed over in the tournament!
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Post by dai on Jan 2, 2023 14:43:40 GMT
Regardless of age, we're a country of small footballing resources. I'm baffled by our continued policy of ignoring players over a certain age, especially those playing at a better level than other members of the squad.
I'd have Bradshaw instead of Harris, Matondo, Colwill and Tyler Roberts in a heartbeat.
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Post by rushy on Jan 2, 2023 15:29:29 GMT
I refer to a previous post of mine but that squad selection in March will tell us all exactly where we are with Page, as right now it's a tired old squad desperate for new faces and enthusiasm.
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Post by conwy10 on Jan 2, 2023 19:11:04 GMT
Regardless of age, we're a country of small footballing resources. I'm baffled by our continued policy of ignoring players over a certain age, especially those playing at a better level than other members of the squad. I'd have Bradshaw instead of Harris, Matondo, Colwill and Tyler Roberts in a heartbeat. I see it slightly different. I'd rather not waste too much time on a player we know they're peak and it's below what we're really looking for. Where as a younger player there's always the potential they'll kick on and you've helped them get there sooner by blooding them in as youngsters. Kieffer Moore I'll give you that, but he's made a Premier League player of himself and taken chances. A generic 26 year old uncapped Welshman in the Championship I'd give a go, but the opportunities he's got to show he's got something will be slim. |
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Post by dai on Jan 2, 2023 19:22:58 GMT
I understand that thought process, however history will tell you only a select few actually kick on.
Bradshaw for example would be competing with Matondo, Roberts, Harris. I think it's become pretty obvious that neither of those are going to be good enough, and imo we're wasting our time with players like that. So why not take a step sideways (not backwards) and include a player based on current form and fitness. We've become too obsessed on keeping an eye on the future, whereas we should be focussing on the here and now.
Our Euro campaign starts in three months. Surely the aim would be to build the strongest possible squad of the fittest and best performing players available? Not pick players because they MIGHT become decent in a few years time? Our squad is stale and tired, we could do with at least 4 or 5 new faces to bring in new energy and competition, regardless of age.
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Post by surge on Jan 2, 2023 20:27:55 GMT
My understanding of The Welsh Way part II is that we try to create club like side as close as possible.
A club side is usually a mix of players who are tasked with winning the game, older heads who can step in to do a job but more likely to be helping the culture and younger lads not yet right level but with lots of promise.
Position wise, Bradshaw would be competing with Tyler Roberts (though imo he's a really skilled and intelligent attacking midfielder rather than a striker) and Mark Harris in role he plays for Cymru/Wales (though imo he doesn't really fit into any regular position). Bradshaw wouldn't be competing with likes of Matondo (winger) or Colwill (10/winger).
Role in the club like culture we try to create, Bradshaw would be trying to put himself forward as player who can help win games here and now. Because we're so short on strikers, and because Bradshaw effective in Championship, he might be the second best Welsh striker at the moment and yes, we are too small a talent pool to contemplate ruling people out just on age, which I don't actually think happens.
As a general rule though, I wouldn't expect a player who is so close to 31, doesn't have an obvious x-factor (Moore's height, Matondo's pace etc.), doesn't have high ceiling of talent (he's worked hard so not much untapped potential) and isn't significantly better than players younger than him to be obvious inclusion.
Harris is the easiest player to leave out at the moment and does play role of back-up to Moore when going for second striker rather than false-9. I'd be picking whoever is leading goal-scorer in Championship come March time, so to reward club form, and seeing if they can be given minutes at home against Latvia to see what they're about. At the moment that's Bradshaw, and although Broadhead actually having better goal conversion %, better scoring frequency and arguably the better season just in a worse team, Bradshaw does more as lone striker than Broadhead does.
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Post by marsvolta on Jan 2, 2023 20:36:40 GMT
It all very well to say that he should be in ahead of the likes of Matondo and Roberts but the problem is that those players aren’t always selected themselves, and if they are it’s only when the squad is extended into a 26 or 28 (or even 30) man squad.
The only player that he could get ahead of is Harris and to be honest I’m not sure how safe his position in the squad is either (and I’m not 100% convinced that Bradshaw is that much of an upgrade on Harris anyway)
Yeah,He’s scored a few goals over the last few weeks or so but We’ve seen this so many times before with Bradshaw The chances are that he’ll have another 10 or 12 game run without scoring and we’ll forget about him again.
Then he’ll score 3 in 4 games and everyone will revive this thread.
Rinse and repeat
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Post by cadno on Jan 2, 2023 20:49:09 GMT
Any club like atmosphere has been exaggerated since Coleman’s days imo! The fact that Bradshaw’s only got 3 caps shines a bad light on Coleman, Giggs and Page. He’s had some bad injuries along the way, but I really feel like he’s someone that could flourish at intl level if he was given the opportunity. He looked good when he came on away to Ukraine in 2015, hardly given a chance since then. Brings more than a goal threat too.
The Welsh way sounds like overthinking things and unnecessarily focusing on youth. Page should look at the pool of players we have and pick the best available regardless of age. 1-1 away to turkey 70th minute, do I want Bradshaw as an option from the bench? Quite simply, yes!
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Post by rushy on Jan 2, 2023 22:18:27 GMT
Irrespective of who plays up front we have to find a way of creating goal scoring opportunities which is where we are lacking , and all those that have been mentioned above like most strikers, rely on service and we simply don't do enough in the final third no matter who plays and this has to change.
I'm not a fan of Tyler or Matondo, otherwise places are up for grabs all over the pitch imo.
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Post by insertname on Jan 2, 2023 22:25:43 GMT
I think there is a risk of exceptionalism that then tips over the edge into parody. “Together stronger”, “the welsh way” etc. Like we need a gimmicky approach where other similar countries just get their heads down and succeed without any song and dance about it.
Based on his cameo against Ukraine yes Bradshaw should have had more opportunities. I don’t think we were stacked with talent up front at the time either as Church was obviously still getting in squads. It feels like he had his chance when he was on the best goals to games ratio of his career last winter, then he got injured and came back in indifferent form. But when you consider that, with Bale on the wane, he still doesn’t have much in the way of competition from a Wales perspective. Kieffer plays the role of target man and whilst he does score goals he’s obviously not prolific in the same way as a Harry Kane at international level so I would like to see a player who can add the same number of goals as Kieffer brings so we can share the load and double our goal threat with someone who is a bit more of an out and out striker who can get in behind defences. In that respect it’s hard not to conclude that Bradshaw still presents an option if only because of a dearth of alternatives.
I think we should definitely be looking at Mullin and if you include Mullin as an option then I guess Collins would be part of the equation too
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Post by iot on Jan 2, 2023 22:45:52 GMT
I think you have that first para all wrong. Together Strong in itself is nothing more than a slogan. However, we all know that our biggest issue for decades - I would argue throughout the 90s and most of the 00s up to the 2016 campaign, was that playing for Wales wasn't taken seriously nor was it enjoyable. Players dreaded the international windows, and did it more out of a sense of duty than actually believing they could do anything. We would be beaten before a ball was kicked. Just listen to people like Gabbidon talking about it, I'm paraphrasing him there. Then you have that interview with the Andy Johnson guy, talking about how the whole squad treated international windows as a piss-up, they would get hammered just days before key games. The likes of Dean Suanders would do nothing but piss about, John Hartson would get into fights on nights out, and Gary Speed would outright refuse to listen to Gould. Bottom line is, it was at times a complete joke and at other times something that was dreaded. So against that backdrop, creating a positive, club-like culture has been key, and bringing players through together and keeping them together has been a massive part of that. That said, football is cyclical and we're now at a very different point in the cycle where new faces are needed. But it shouldn't be new faces for the sake of it. Sensible decisions need to be made and some of the suggestions are far from that imo.
I'm not sure what planet some of the people suggesting an old-fashioned little and large combination of Moore-Bradshaw or Moore-Mullin are living on. In 99% probability, the likes of Bradshaw and Mullin will not have a greater impact at international level than your Johnsons and Wilsons. It is not how we will best the likes of Croatia and Turkey. It would be crazy to use these massive games coming up (and they are all massive) to test 30 something average championship players on the <1% chance that we manage to find a David Healy. They're far more likely to be a Freddie Eastwood, Jernaine Easter, or Steve Morison
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Post by rushy on Jan 3, 2023 20:06:32 GMT
We also had some of our best ever performances in those periods, we beat Spain, England, Germany and Italy .
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Post by insertname on Jan 3, 2023 20:28:35 GMT
I'm not sure what planet some of the people suggesting an old-fashioned little and large combination of Moore-Bradshaw or Moore-Mullin are living on. In 99% probability, the likes of Bradshaw and Mullin will not have a greater impact at international level than your Johnsons and Wilsons. It is not how we will best the likes of Croatia and Turkey. It would be crazy to use these massive games coming up (and they are all massive) to test 30 something average championship players on the <1% chance that we manage to find a David Healy. They're far more likely to be a Freddie Eastwood, Jernaine Easter, or Steve Morison I’m not suggesting that, that’s why I used the word “alternative”. Someone who can run provide a bit of moment up front, get in behind the defence, run the channels like Harris and James but who actually carries a goal threat, at least based on their league performance. As for besting Croatia I wouldn’t even worry myself about that because that isn’t going to happen whoever we pick. |
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Post by insertname on Jan 3, 2023 20:30:29 GMT
We also had some of our best ever performances in those periods, we beat Spain, England, Germany and Italy . Yeah good observation that! |
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Post by marsvolta on Jan 3, 2023 22:01:24 GMT
Bradshaw seems to create an alternative universe on here.
All the normally positive people are negative about Bradshaw and all the ones who would normally find a negative even if we won the World Cup seem somehow to overlook all of Bradshaw’s inconsistencies and shortcomings and only see the positive in every thing he does, haha.
My personal belief is that his stock is only so high because he isn’t being selected. I’ve obviously no way of proving it but I’ve no doubt that if he had been selected for the last 5 years or so he’d be right up there with Roberts and Williams as one of the whipping boys.
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Post by insertname on Jan 3, 2023 22:47:26 GMT
There’s a very simple way to stop the Bradshaw debate: the players who get picked instead could score some goals. As long as they aren’t very good at doing that names like Bradshaw, Collins and Mullin will continue to come up as the answer to the problem. Even if they aren’t the answer they present an alternative. How you fit in the effort to evaluate them is admittedly a problem…but I think we can all see that the squad is crying out for new players and ideas and so some risks will inevitably have to be taken in order to push forward for the long term. After a decade of success I would argue that a rebuild and a tournament miss is only natural for a country like ours. That attitude probably won’t go down well with those who have set their heart on going to Germany in 2024.
I’m not a fan of limping on personally. Trying to coax diminishing returns from Bale and Ramsey. We rode our luck, had a great decade and managed to get the maximum out of a squad that I was expecting to be in transition for the World Cup campaign. We got through that, but we could all see at the finals that the time is up for the 2016 generation and some of the younger players aren’t developing as hoped and we need to bring new players in and keep an open mind on who these players are.
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Post by surge on Jan 3, 2023 23:15:05 GMT
Just to add, what we all really want is for Bradshaw to continue scoring this season, force his way into contention and take to international football like duck to water.
We do really need a goal-scorer or two to stand up please.
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Post by talyfan on Jan 4, 2023 4:00:59 GMT
If we look at his time at Millwall
18/19: Signs in August 2018 from Barnsley joins on loan till January. Made 10 appearances that season 2 starts and 8 off the bench. Gets injured and out for the rest of the season. 0 goals and assists.
19/20: First proper season in Championship. 29 starts and 16 off the bench. 8 goals and 2 assists. Not prolific by any stretch. Had a purple patch with 5 goals in 4 games.
20/21: In and out of the squad. 12 starts and 17 off the bench. 5 goals, 0 assists.
21/22: Started as he left off the season prior, on the bench. Gets good purple patch but gets injured mid way through the season. 16 starts, 8 off the bench. 9 goals and 1 assist. Had another purple patch 5 goals in 5 games.
22/23: Starting more often. 18 starts and 2 off the bench so far. 6 goals and 2 assists. Individual performance against Watford (hatrick) and brave against Rotherham.
Looking at that I see a player who I would say in terms of goalscoring in the Championship is streaky during his time so far, struggled with injuries and nailing down a starting place. However, he's still been able to chip in with goals.
Would he make any difference or improve our situation? Up for debate. From watching him, I think he offers just as much as some of the lads who we've selected do but at least has some form of goal threat or better than theirs anyway.
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Post by bale-droed on Jan 4, 2023 4:05:30 GMT
Bradshaw seems to create an alternative universe on here. All the normally positive people are negative about Bradshaw and all the ones who would normally find a negative even if we won the World Cup seem somehow to overlook all of Bradshaw’s inconsistencies and shortcomings and only see the positive in every thing he does, haha. My personal belief is that his stock is only so high because he isn’t being selected. I’ve obviously no way of proving it but I’ve no doubt that if he had been selected for the last 5 years or so he’d be right up there with Roberts and Williams as one of the whipping boys. And the ones who want to give Bradshaw a chance would give mullin one |
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Post by cadno on Jan 5, 2023 17:00:10 GMT
I’ve said it loads of times, it’s not just goals he offers, his overall game is very good. He hasn’t been prolific for Millwall yet he’s started for them consistently because he brings a lot to the team in terms of running /linking up play. I can see him chipping in with goals for Wales too. It just seems daft not to be given more than 3 caps imo.
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Post by iot on Jan 5, 2023 18:04:39 GMT
He hasn't started consistently for Milwall, quite the opposite in fact. Even when fit. Can't say I've watched him play that much, but I've always had the impression he's much more of a poacher than an all-rounder. Please don't tell me you're basing this assessment of his all-round game solely on that 20-min cameo in a friendly against Ukraine, a performance that was massively exaggerated at the time imo
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Post by aberbeeg on Jan 5, 2023 18:16:53 GMT
Certainly offers more than Tyler Roberts and Mark Harris
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