Do we still need a centre back ?

[Dan Ellard]

Sawyer shouldn't be written off automatically - I did wonder about his future when he lost his place to Purrington in 2016, and of course one or two wrote him off when we first signed him back(!)... however, he's 36 in July, and this injury must have set him back. Will he be good enough to come back into the team this season? I hope he can prove us wrong one last time.

This being his 10th year as a pro with us (across 2 spells), I hope he gets a testimonial in the future when fans are allowed back in. An often underrated club legend in my book.

 

[Mark Pedlar]

Sawyer shouldn't be written off automatically - I did wonder about his future when he lost his place to Purrington in 2016, and of course one or two wrote him off when we first signed him back(!)... however, he's 36 in July, and this injury must have set him back. Will he be good enough to come back into the team this season? I hope he can prove us wrong one last time.

This being his 10th year as a pro with us (across 2 spells), I hope he gets a testimonial in the future when fans are allowed back in. An often underrated club legend in my book.

This

 

[HC Green]

We will soon as two of the back 3 are loanees so won’t be here next season unless we pay a fee or compensation for them.

 

[Mark Pedlar]

We will soon as two of the back 3 are loanees so won’t be here next season unless we pay a fee or compensation for them.

Can't we worry about that over the summer window? Opoku and Watts will both be here that long at least, and there's a possibility that they could come on loan for another season. Right now we have 5 players who can play across the 3 positions and a couple of youngsters as back up. I would say that if the budget allows we could do with someone but I wouldn't be too concerned if we went with what we have.

 

[Cobi Budge]

Gary Sawyer has proven a lot people wrong on a number of occasions, I think he's been written off & been expected to retire for about 3 years running now. I definitely wouldn't put it past him to prove people wrong again.

 

[third earl of jean]

Yes we definitely should be signing someone. I'd be very nervous going into the remainder of the season with the current squad of central defenders, both from the risk of loss of form and risk of injuries perspective.

 

[Winchelsea Green]

Re Sawyer - as a wing back it's a definite "no" from me but as a left-sided Centre Back does he still not have something to offer ?

 

[Cobi Budge]

Re Sawyer - as a wing back it's a definite "no" from me but as a left-sided Centre Back does he still not have something to offer ?

LCB is the perfect position for him. He isn't quite big enough to play as part of a two at the back, and he doesn't quite have the pace to be a LWB anymore, but he still more than has the awarness, intelligence and positional sense to be the LCB of a 3.

 

[Emu]

For me a DCB in is still a priority, and I think we will see one come in in the next week or so.

As much as Gary Sawyer has been a very reliable and consistent player for us, he is coming up for 36 years of age and has never been blessed with pace. On top of that, he still has to build up his personal fitness and match fitness, I would be surprised if he makes more than a handful of substitute appearances between now and the end of the season.

I also would not want to rely on Wootton as a filler should any of the current 3 CDM's get injured/suspended. In fact, I'd rather him at CDM - keep him away from the back three please!

 

[davie nine]

It would be very risky not to have, at least, backup for injuries. suspensions and loss of form.
It will be very disappointing if we don’t sign at least one experienced centre back before the deadline.
The current centre backs have done well in recent games but they also need some competition to keep them focussed.

 

[PL2 3DQ]

There's an experienced League One centre-back sat on the bench at Bradford and not getting games.

If we did sign a centre-back I'd like to think it's with next season in mind and not just a stop gap for this season.

When Sturrock got us promoted to the old Division Two he used that first season to prepare for the following season in which we finished as Champions.

 

[Andy S]

Beacuse of the position they play, centre backs are always prone to getting booked, leading to suspensions. Plus they can always get injured.

Wootton is the only cover Argyle have at the moment. We are just an injury and suspension away from having a crisis. Sawyer isn't ready yet and the kids are probably not good enough for League One.

I think you'll find that Wotton and Coughlan went, certainly for one whole season without missing a game, it may even have been two.

 

[Knibbsworth]

For me a DCB in is still a priority, and I think we will see one come in in the next week or so.

What is a DCB?

 

[Quintrell Green]

For me a DCB in is still a priority, and I think we will see one come in in the next week or so.

What is a DCB?

A dominating centre back!

 

[Vampires11]

Derbyshire Community Bank?