goodymatt

MLG mode on - Boro finished 10th - MLG mode off.

I see that Chorley used to play for the skates, captained them for a season too.

I think the key questions re Armstrong are: 1. Does he fit into Still’s style? I think he presses well and works hard off the ball and has reasonable pace to support the expected more direct style. We have seen he’s not a CF or a true winger but if there is an outside forward role or we play a pair up top, then there should be a role that he can be effective in. 2. Does he want to be here? Wages wise, most likely. However, we have shown we don’t trust him at PL level by loaning him out last January. If he’s now decided he wants a new challenge or even agrees with us that he’s not going to be a PL starter, then there is concern over motivation should we keep him. I personally think he will be determined to get back there and prove people wrong, so I don’t see motivation as an issue. We need not worry about his PL ability until we are back there and then we can look to replace. 3. Is there room for Armstrong and Archer in the same team? Archer favours left inside forward and Armstrong right, but I don’t see us playing with 2 of them and if we did go for a pair up top, then we can only have 1 of those being this profile. Archer has a higher ceiling for me but Armstrong is better at pressing and work rate. I think Archer is the better finisher, Armstrong needing more chances to score. Not sure it’s the best use of our budget to have one on the bench every week but it would be impressive depth for the championship really. It’s a bit of a predicament as both players have proven to be very effective at Championship level. I do think Archer will thrive in more direct counters, see his Arsenal goal away last season. Can Still get him to press better? 4. Can we sell him for enough? I think we wouldn’t get our money back due to PL clubs knowing he won’t perform at that level, leaving a very small number of Championship clubs that could afford his wages. Sell to any of them and we are strengthening a rival. In summary, he’s been a goal machine at this level and is hard to shift without either losing money or strengthening a rival. I can’t see him not being here next season for those reasons plus his wages, unless he really wants out and/or is willing to go abroad. It’s a nice problem to have at championship level, provided Still’s system can get the most out or Armstrong and/or Archer.

If he wanted out, we might end up having to sell. Hopefully not the case, feels like we are the right level for him at this moment in time. Charles not really impacting the team after spending £10m on him seemed like an unnecessary risk but this time around he appears to be the player we hoped he would be. Get him straight into the starting 11 and let his asset value continue to grow.

Even with a points deduction for Leicester I can’t look past a top 5 of Ipswich, Saints, Sheffield United, Leicester and Birmingham. The 6th spot is harder to call but right now I would go for Coventry. I think Saints will finish 3rd and it will be the lottery of the playoffs again, but there’s a lot of transfer business to go that could change my prediction. Ask again in September!

I’d like to think we won’t consider a sale, his price will only go up with another good season and he will be a key player for us.

I agree at championship level he is decent. Aribo, Downes and Charles is quite a physically strong set of midfield options which you’d think would suit Still’s style. If we were to surprisingly keep Fernandes, then Aribo doesn’t get in. Smallbone I’m not sure is the right profile for Still but I’m sure we will find out in pre season.

Very difficult to do and most likely would be via a loan, which like Brooks might not be signed on promotion. Look at Downes and THB loans to perm, we thought they could step up but in reality they both struggled. Attracting the players that can step up is very difficult. We will need to get ourselves back up and then strengthen properly as a PL club with PL wages.

Looks like CF in a 4-2-3-1 example vs Watford:

Transfermarkt has him down as a CF for all but 2 of his appearances at Boro, 11 goals and 6 assists in 20 league apps for them.