Ryan Shawcross
Talking football with the ex-stoke City Captain
and an old pair so perhaps a loan deal as well as a player with experience. The marathon Championship season lends itself to understanding rotation and you need a couple of players who are strong in that position.
I’m surprised that Tom Edwards isn’t at the club to stake his claim. He’s shown talent over here in the US. It’s only my opinion but he’s more than good enough to play in the Championship. Obviously the manager hasn’t seen what I see in him and it’s his call.
Tom needs a bit of love and encouragement – and, every now and again, someone to tell him the truth. It’s probably why I got on with him. I’d big him up but also give him the old chat. He took it well and I felt we saw the best of him when I played next to him in the second half of 2018/19.
You need energy, drive and a willingness to get up and down the pitch to be a successful full-back. Tymon has shown that and been effective at times this season. You also have to be really good at
defending the back post. This is quite a physical league so ideally you want someone with height, athleticism and quality to deliver balls to whoever is playing up front.
Wingers can potentially be the difference between finishing where we are now and getting right up the table. Recruitment there is vital. I’ve watched a lot of League One matches this season and I’d be tempted to dip in there to find a player at the right age with pace and hunger and can deliver the end product, assists and goals.
We are still operating with financial constraints so we’ve got to be clever and, if we pay a small fee, try to repeat what worked with Jacob Brown: nurture him, make him better and turn him into a player who can make a difference at this level.
Michael O’neill has favoured wing-backs this season but it’s held us back not having that option to go with attacking wide players, particularly at home. Sometimes you can end up with square pegs in round holes when you try to find a
Plan B. The Championship is about crosses, headed goals and action.
If you can find wingers who can also tuck inside to play in a 3-4-3 or 3-4-2-1 then that’s probably the ideal scenario.
In goal I hope we either say Joe Bursik is our man and he’s going to play every game or let him go out on loan to get experience. Back him or bring someone else in.
Jack Bonham is adequate when needed but Bursik is the man you can really see potential in. There’s a good keeper in there and he just needs to play and see where he ends the season. I guarantee that if he plays a full campaign there will be clubs sniffing around him next summer.
It made a big difference to me as a young player to feel like I was always going to play. I knew I wouldn’t be dropped after one mistake. I still knew I couldn’t keep making the same mistake or different mistakes but I benefited from the consistency of the manager and his faith in me. You have to give a young player time to learn what he’s good at and his weaknesses. A player gets better when he understands the flaws in his own game.
Up front, Brown has surprised me. His attitude has never been in question but when he joined us from Barnsley he had played in a lot of positions. The manager had clearly seen something in him and he has scored a good number this season even if he hasn’t taken every chance. The desire he has to keep improving is clear and I’m sure he will. It will be interesting to see what levels he can get to.
My advice to him would be to use his aggression. He’s quite strong and he can go from being a nuisance with his movement and work rate to being horrible to play against. Luis Suarez was half the size of me but boy did he make me know he was about. It’s the sly digs when everyone is watching action at the other end of the pitch. He’s a nice lad but I want to see a nasty, ruthless streak.