TOPIC: Ratings of signings since the summer

As title says.

Tom Miller 8/10
Luke Joyce 7/10
Michael Raynes 7/10
David Atkinson 5/10
Jason Kennedy 6/10
Bastien Hery 7/10
Jabo Ibhere 10/10
Kevin Osie 4/10
Angelo Balanta 2/10
Joe Thompson 3/10
Alex McQueen 8/10
Macauley Gillesphie 7/10
Alex Gilliead 7/10

Not much wrong with your ratings there, would give Kennedy an extra mark and maybe a few others an extra half point.

I'd probably give Miller a 9 and Balanta a higher rating than both Thompson and Osei.

Early days for Gillesphey so I'm not sure id give him a 7.

Other than that I pretty much agree.

to be fair to Atkinson, he's been injured for most of the season - actually looked decent in defence before then...

I can see Gilliead being really useful actually.....

Tom Miller 9/10
Luke Joyce 7/10
Michael Raynes 8/10
David Atkinson 5/10
Jason Kennedy 6/10
Bastien Hery 7/10
Jabo Ibhere 10/10
Kevin Osie 4/10
Angelo Balanta 5/10
Joe Thompson 4/10
Alex McQueen 8/10
Macauley Gillesphie to soon for me to rate
Alex Gilliead " "

Miller for me has been the best signing due to his age and potential for future improvement. Kennedy has been disappointing but he hasn't been in his favoured position so hopefully he didn't just look good in a bad team last year.

Waterworks marks aren't far off the mark for me. Kennedy unfortunate because he's been played out wide, Atkinson down to injury. Raynes could be pushing a 9 IMO, Balanta maybe 6 and although I like McQueen he's had a few poor games of late so perhaps a 7.

What has been so fustrating is Kennedy playing out wide, the back end of last season him and Dempsey were our force, driving on from midfield and picking up scraps in and around the box. Surely Curle must have seen this so why waste him out wide? Best of a bad bunch?

Miller has been very good, Raynes growing with every game, Atkinson when fit we know can be a force so hopwfully will come with time.

Mcqueen/Balanta both shown promise in flashes, think McQueen should be given more game time, looks the most natural in the wing back position. Need to look past Blanatas nightmare at York but still needs more consistency.

Osei/Thompson i presume were cheap gambles that dont look like paying off.

2 newcastle lads look good from what little we have seen of them, might be lucky to keep Gillead but should keep the other one around to bolster our defence.

All in all a lot better recruitment than in recent seasons, Dykes deserves a lot of credit, supposedly a League 1 team (scunny??) has been in for him and it seems we need his relationship with Curle to keep driving us forward

Interesting to see how different we all see things:

Tom Miller 8/10 - Very impressed. Can see him ending up with 10 goals this season.
Luke Joyce 4/10 - Don't see it myself. He looks no better than when he last played for us. Doesn't stop attacks, doesn't do anything going forward. Whenever he gets the ball he either passes it 2 yards sideways or gives it away.
Michael Raynes 8/10 - Very impressed. An old school defender.
David Atkinson Can't judge on 1.5 games
Jason Kennedy 5/10 Very poor compared to last season. Needs to play in his proper position.
Bastien Hery 5/10 - Don't see it with him either. Other than the odd nice pass here and there, doesn't really offer much. Not much of an attacking thread, seems anonymous most of the time.
Jabo Ibhere 9/10 - Excellent signing.
Kevin Osie 3/10 Looks like a fish out of water
Angelo Balanta 4/10 Doesn't look great but better than Osei
Joe Thompson 3/10 Very poor, doesn't seem to know his position at all. Looks like he has no confidene.
Alex McQueen 7/10 Should be first choice. Looks the only one really suited to playing wing back.
Macauley Gillesphie 7/10 - Early days but looks a good player
Alex Gilliead 7/10 - Same as above

Tom Miller 8/10 - Looks a good signing... he is very good going forward and will score quite a few goals. For me he does need to work on his defending, at times he has been skinned by pacey wingers and is poor at blocking crosses at times.
Luke Joyce 7.5/10 - Slow start but he is picking up his performance well now. Mobile and energetic, but fairly limited technically.
Michael Raynes 8/10 - Simply awful the first few games but has seen a massive improvement in the last few appearances. He is a good leader.
David Atkinson 6/10 - Hard to rate the lad as he has been injured. Looks solid enough.
Jason Kennedy 6/10 - 8/10 last season but has failed to play to that standard this season. Playing him out of position hasn't helped the lad.
Bastien Hery 610 - Has good ability... but Liverpool game aside... has produced virtually nothing of any note. Drifts out of games and doesn't create enough or score enough.
Jabo Ibhere 10/10 - Couldn't ask for much more from a new signing.
Kevin Osie 4/10 - He is a total headless chicken. there is ability in there but unfortunately no footballing brain.
Angelo Balanta 5/10 - Good game against the Daggers but simply awful at York. Very hit and miss.
Joe Thompson 3/10 - Not good enough. simple as that.
Alex McQueen 7/10 - Looks like he could turn out to be a good signing but needs to improve his consistency. That will come with age and experience though. He could well end up being a 9/10 signing.
Macauley Gillesphie 7/10 - Looked solid and pretty decent on the ball. Very early to matk him though.
Alex Gilliead 8/10 - Excellent at York. The lad has ability and when he turns and drives at defenders he causes havoc. Hopefully we can sign him on for longer. He has got the makings of a very good player.

Interesting that Joe Thompson seems to be getting a 3 from the vast majority of people here. He's the one signing that I simply could not understand.

He barely did anything in the pre-season friendlies to warrant being kept on longer for trial, never mind being given a contract. When we have so many other players that can play in that position, he unfortunately seems a bit of a waste of a wage.

He's alright, he'd be ok to have in the squad if it was a small one, but we're not going to get promotion with him starting 10-15 games this year.

It's also interesting to see how similar all of the other marks are for different players. Given the fact that nobody ever seems to be able to agree on here, pretty much everyone is saying the same thing.

It's nice to see Raynes getting some plaudits, he seems to have won a lot of folk over after a bit of a ropey start.

So of the players out of contract in January, keep Atkinson, Asamoah and Balanta but release Osei and Thompson?

Thomson and Osei are only contracted until 1 December I thought?

Balanta, Atkinson and Asamoah are all 31st Dec. 2015
Osei and Thompson are both 31st Jan 2016.
Rest of the squad are all our of contract next summer, except Kennedy and Joyce, who have deals till 2017.

Though the majority of them have a further year option on their contracts.

Markovitch wrote:
thecumbrians.net/index.php/current-squad/contract-lengths

Balanta, Asamoah, Atkinson until 31st December, and Osei/Thompson until 31st Jan.

Edit: missed Deckchair's response!

Tom Miller 8/10. Excellent so far both defensively and offensively, perfect for the RWB position for me.
Luke Joyce 7/10. Recovered after that slip in the first home game, works tirelessly on and off the ball and spreads the play well at home.
Michael Raynes 8/10. As above, recovering from a shaky beginning, proved me wrong thus far.
David Atkinson N/A. Haven't seen enough but would extend based on last year mainly.
Jason Kennedy 5/10. Disappointing in comparison to last year, struggles to get into games especially recently. Playing LWB doesn't help him at all.
Bastien Hery 7/10. That bit of flair we needed to replace Dempsey, works very hard sometimes to his own downfall.
Jabo Ibhere 9/10. Nothing lasts forever, but who knows where we'd be without him so far... Ok, I do... relegation zone.
Kevin Osei 4/10. Great goal against Chesterfield but nothing since. A poor Asamoah, wouldn't extend for that reason and therefore keep Asamoah longer.
Angelo Balanta 6/10. Deserves more of a chance, strong lad who I fancy to grow into the season as it progresses. A good Amoo, definitely would extend.
Joe Thompson 4/10. Not quite strong enough, needs to back himself more. Wouldn't extend.
Alex McQueen 7/10. Takes off like a deer down the line, looks like he's loving his football, experience will benefit his as we go on.
Alex Gilliead 6/10. Two good games vs. York and Liverpool - would love to get him longer-term.
Macauley Gillesphie N/A. Haven't seen enough.