Is it a coincidence that when we landed in this pub league that great things were expected of honeyman and gooch. They'd had a year in the c'ship and while it was a tough year it gave them a toughening up and game time. A year and bit on honeyman gone and he was regularly getting pelters before the off. Gooch too is becoming a boo boy pin up. Embleton went away to grimsby and had a great season just as robson is. Embleton when fit though is now just 'meh'. Gone right off the boil. Robson seems to coming on leaps and bounds since getting away from you know who. Hume was coming on fine too but now he is regarded as a bit of a liability. Is it the football and ross's methods. Just asking like.
How is Honeyman doing at Hull? I cant say we have missed him As for the youngsters, personally I think its a mixture of confused tactics and a team not playing with any real sort of confidence
We haven't seen enough of Embleton and Robson under Ross to make a judgement on how their development is going. Embleton was having a good game before he got injured. You might be booing Gooch but I'd say he's been playing well this season. His form dropped badly last season after his boy was born, unless Ross is the baby's dad that was probably not his fault. Hume's coming along alright, rocky start with confusing tactics and him being the only LB at the club which invites pressure but he's been protected well enough by the manager.
My concerns about Gooch and Maguire is that they loose possession, and their composure, too easily, its frustrating as both have the talent and experience to be taking this league apart, Gooch looked better in the last game on the left , but we need a higher level of consistency from both players imo. PS I dont boo anybody in a Sunderland shirt.
Yeah Gooch has always been a greedy sod, it's good to an extent but he does lose the ball too much. It's something Ross could be doing more on maybe but I certainly don't think he's being stifled or played out of position or anything. If he has a stinker it's on him not Ross. I do like his passion though, he's a terrier like O'Nien. Doesn't seem to get reds so I don't think there's a discipline problem.
Gooch has done alright this season. He did have a bit of a dip last season but as has been mentioned, the lad had a newborn more than likely screaming his house down. Hume has been a victim of JR's naive tactics and other players hanging him out to dry. Robson is doing well at Grimsby and probably just needs some time away to prove he can stay fit. The thing with Embleton is a strange one. I thought he looked really good and ready to start games regularly but he's had 1 or 2 off games and Ross doesn't seem to trust him. Personally think he's more suited coming and little bit more central and slightly deeper rather than the advanced/wide role Ross has deployed him in. More worrying is the whole U23 set up and especially the bizarre experiment of Mumba as a RB. Once the takeover is done, overhauling the Academy should be nigh on top of the to do list.
Great post mate, and welcome aboard, lot of Hurley fans on here so you will feel at home. On the great man himself I remember he had a couple of off games to begin with so Embleton should take heart, he has real quality imo. and will make the grade somewhere, just hope its here.
