Conor Coady

[Coleshill Wolf]

The consensus seems to be that he is not the best centre half, as he is not the best in the air and is not the quickest.. (I still have nightmares of Tammy Abraham and Mitrovic destroying him). I do believe that he improved a lot last season though.

It is also my belief, that he is the best Captain we have had for a number of years....

So, by signing Collins and possibly going to a back 4, what happens?

With a World Cup looming, you can bet he won't be happy if he's not playing, as this could be his one and only chance to play at a finals.

Does he play in the four?

Is he going to be sold to raise funds?

Do you keep as a squad player for big games when 5 at the back is considered?

Could he be used as back up in MF, to sit in front of the 4 and allow Neves more freedom if we don't sign anyone else?

I fully agree that there is no room for sentiment in football but, as a captain, he has big boots to fill...

 

[TheRetroChief]

I am slightly surprised at how easily most people seem to drop him from the 1st XI. I'm not his biggest fan as a defender, yet this guy is captain, virtually an ever present at the back and represented his country in defence. Saiss played an awful lot of games and Connor is better than Saiss.
I expect us to stay with 3 CBs anyway, so I think he's in by default.

 

[MontyR]

He’ll still have a big part to play in the squad and will still get a lot of game time, but I reckon the days of his name being 1st on the team sheet are coming to an end. Hopefully Collins gives us that option to change our formation when necessary.

 

[Bawtry Wolf]

I don’t think we’ll go to a 4 at the back immediately anyway. Kilman and Collins have a maximum of 100 premier league games between them, whilst I don’t know about Collins, Kilman is fairly mute on the pitch. They’ll need Coady there initially as they bed in. I don’t see it as too much of a problem as Collins brings pace and footballing skills, that, even though he’s a Centre Half can help the team offensively just because we can player higher and he and Kilman can step into midfield. I see these three as the first choice centre backs with possibly Boly interchanging and Toti as back up.

We’ll probably go to a 4 during some games and eventually that may be the starting line up but after the World Cup.

 

[RMNottm]

So long as we can commit more players forward two of Neves, Mouts, Coady can play but not three

 

[jrpb-3]

to get his world cup chance he probably needs to be playing in a 3 as he won't be picked for a back 4 for England, will play where they decide to go for a back 3, so playing in a 4 probably won't help, unless he suddenly shows he is as good in a 4 and therfore an option for both systems for England (unlikely to be first choice in a 4)

 

[WalsallWolf]

A really interesting time. He is not part of the problem of our back five holding us back, he is the problem. I know this is going to sound so harsh, but say he is suspended for the first 3 games, wouldn't we feel excited seeing a potential back four of say;
Jonny Collins Kilman RAN

But do we admit that quite possibly the best bloke in football should be dropped? And I am really not trying to be condescending.

 

[fleck1]

3 at the back wasn't the problem, I expect us to stick with the 3 but now we have added pace and ability on the ball. Lots of successful teams have played with a back 3, our issues come from the limitations and legs of some of the players playing it. Add a pacey box to box midfielder to Kilman and Collins along side Coady, our three at the back would look a lot different.

 

[Perton Wolf]

If we go to a 4 then the time may have come to move him on if we can get a good price for him. Been a great Captain for us but he should earn a place in the team on merit. Would also understand us keeping him for this presence in the dressing room and his ability to slot back in should we revert to a 5 for certain games but £25-30m would be too good to turn down for a defender who has some serious flaws to his game.

 

[Stafford]

If we are playing 2 young CB's. Collins is very young.. and mistake prone as you'd expect . I see the experience and Leadership of Coady being put alongside them. Kilman Coady Collins could be a very balanced 3.

A kilman Collins 2 partnership in a 2 would be the youngest pair in the Prem by some distance.

 

[Padraig]

I expect we will still play 5 ATB in games versus the top sides

 

[hoop]

3 at the back is less defenders than 4 at the back.

The problem has been the wingbacks not being the attacking outlet they were when it was Doc & Jonny.

Get the wingbacks up the pitch and the wide attackers in the box, and be more attacking, then no one will worry about Coady.

 

[Brian Law’s buses]

Signing Collins offers another dimension, we can still plays 3 at the back but when needed can drop to a 4, it depends on the opposition. This gives us the flexibility to change when needed

 

[North West Wanderer]

A really interesting time. He is not part of the problem of our back five holding us back, he is the problem. I know this is going to sound so harsh, but say he is suspended for the first 3 games, wouldn't we feel excited seeing a potential back four of say;
Jonny Collins Kilman RAN

But do we admit that quite possibly the best bloke in football should be dropped? And I am really not trying to be condescending.

Disagree with your first paragraph in every way. You’re assuming Kilman can play in a four for a start? Jonny and RAN mostly have played in a 5 too.

Too easy to overlook the player Coady has become and scapegoat

 

[jonesy]

Squad player or when we play 3 at the back that’s it. Would sell for the right price. Lovely guy but taking sentiment out of it he’s not Good enough for a 4.

 

[SakosRightFoot]

3 at the back is less defenders than 4 at the back.

The problem has been the wingbacks not being the attacking outlet they were when it was Doc & Jonny.

Get the wingbacks up the pitch and the wide attackers in the box, and be more attacking, then no one will worry about Coady.

This, absolutely this. Said before it's also the reason Traore has been less effective and Raul has struggled too. We need the wingbacks to get into the box to draw defenders out of position, it also helped having a second striker in Jota rather than a winger/forward like Neto or Podence. Not knocking those players by the way. We built a very solid foundation defensively last season that helped get us to within touching distance of the top 4, that we didn't push on is not the fault of the back 3.

 

[Oh When the Wolves]

He simply has to be dropped to play a back 4

He’s the worst defender in the air
the least mobile defender,
The weakest defender,
The slowest defender

He will get chances in a 4, due to injuries, and we should still play a back 5 against the top 4 - as we are one of few teams that can take points off these teams.

But we shouldn’t be building a team around him

He will still be in the England squad as a leader, but like the euros he won’t play a minute

If someone offers 15 million I would accept it

 

[WeAreTheWolvesII]

I would love to switch throughout the season.

In which case Coady would still feature 10-20 games but he wouldn’t be the key man he is now.

Does that upset the dynamics of the group? Does he lose his influence if he’s not captain every week?

Hard for us to judge. We should be playing a back four in many games though as it’s more attacking and, providing it goes through, Collins and Kilman would appear to be the best partnership.

 

[Perton Wolf]

Disagree with your first paragraph in every way. You’re assuming Kilman can play in a four for a start? Jonny and RAN mostly have played in a 5 too.

Too easy to overlook the player Coady has become and scapegoat

Your point about Kilman is a fair one, think his lack of mobility would be more noticeable in a back 4 also.

 

[WolfLing]

First name on the teamsheet in the middle of 3 centre backs.

Competing with Collins (if we complete his signing) and Boly alongside Kilman in a back 4.

Seen loads of comments about playing him as a holding midfielder in we play a 4, but he's not a top half Premier League holding midfielder for me.

 

[Ironfistedmonk]

I think the wing backs have suffered from the same problem our centre mids have and that's having to babysit a slow as **** defence that sits deep as they get turned so easily

 

[Northampton_wolf]

if coady waivers, you make neves captain and ride that man into europe, no need for him to leave then

 

[WolfLing]

I don’t think we’ll go to a 4 at the back immediately anyway. Kilman and Collins have a maximum of 100 premier league games between them, whilst I don’t know about Collins, Kilman is fairly mute on the pitch. They’ll need Coady there initially as they bed in. I don’t see it as too much of a problem as Collins brings pace and footballing skills, that, even though he’s a Centre Half can help the team offensively just because we can player higher and he and Kilman can step into midfield. I see these three as the first choice centre backs with possibly Boly interchanging and Toti as back up.

We’ll probably go to a 4 during some games and eventually that may be the starting line up but after the World Cup.

Highly likely that we start the season with 3 centre backs, see how well Collins settles and then move to a back 4 more and more.

Or alternatively, he might even be used as an option at right back until Semedo is fit.

 

[TheRetroChief]

3 at the back is less defenders than 4 at the back.

The problem has been the wingbacks not being the attacking outlet they were when it was Doc & Jonny.

Get the wingbacks up the pitch and the wide attackers in the box, and be more attacking, then no one will worry about Coady.

 

[Pengwern]

We need Connor because we will adapt to out opponents all season so both 4 and 3 at the back are essential. It’s not one or the other.

 

[StLuke]

Just a personal opinion. One of the greatest captains we have ever had and was the glue that held everything together at the end of last season when things could have got a lot worse. You don’t throw that away. For me he’s priceless. Is he undroppable? Absolutely not. But he’s just so much more than a very competent Premier League and International footballer to this club.

Just my opinion

 

[Wolfyyy]

…. We won’t play 4 at the back against top sides. We’ll be hammered regardless of how optimistic you are about our CB pairing in a 4. We don’t have that kind of quality yet. Conor is still relevant for at least another season or two during this transitional phase.

 

[koplex]

The level of disrespect shown to this man is disappointing.

Great player, but even better captain, person and ambassador. Those last three attributes do not grow on trees, and we will only really value Coady once he leaves.

 

[North West Wanderer]

Just a personal opinion. One of the greatest captains we have ever had and was the glue that held everything together at the end of last season when things could have got a lot worse. You don’t throw that away. For me he’s priceless. Is he undroppable? Absolutely not. But he’s just so much more than a very competent Premier League and International footballer to this club.

Just my opinion

Completely agree -
We would lose so much.

 

[Sussex Wolf]

Just a personal opinion. One of the greatest captains we have ever had and was the glue that held everything together at the end of last season when things could have got a lot worse. You don’t throw that away. For me he’s priceless. Is he undroppable? Absolutely not. But he’s just so much more than a very competent Premier League and International footballer to this club.

Just my opinion

Well said, completely agree. He’s shown with England, that he’s willing to play an important part in the squad, even when he’s not starting games. As we transition to using four at the back more, then likely he will start on the bench sometimes, but he’s still a leader and motivator. From what I just read about Collins, it sounds like he might be a future captain, and there is Neves of course.

 

[Derbywolf85]

Conor Coady is by a distance one of the best captains (if not THE best) the club has had in my lifetime.

He is a model professional, an exemplary leader, a brilliant organiser and above all else a top, top bloke.

But he is also the reason we can't move away from a 3/5 at the back.

Because he isn't good enough in a 4 (and don't give me the "He played for England there" line - I could've played for England in a back 4 against some of the opposition he has) and he isn't good enough to be a DM in a Premier League side.

Therefore, if we are serious about going to a 4, some kind of solution has to be reached with Conor, because in a World Cup year, he isn't going to agree to not playing as regularly for Wolves.

 

[Contrarian]

I think the wing backs have suffered from the same problem our centre mids have and that's having to babysit a slow as **** defence that sits deep as they get turned so easily

That may be part of it. But Doherty and a fully fit Jonny never had that problem with much the same back 3 we saw last season.

Semedo and Ait Nouri are more comfortable as full backs, rather than wing backs. I think that's why they deliver little end product going forward - while their defensive abilites make our defence even tighter. We score less and concede less (on our good days) and a big part of that is the skill sets of those in the wing back role.

On Coady, the first half of last season, at times I really thought he was looking like a genuine Premier League level centre half - about time too! But the second half the season, he seemed to drop back to the bad old days. Tormented by most of the strikers who dared run at him. Beaten in the air and so on. It's a conundrum as he is an excellent leader and organiser, but sadly, don't think his actual CH level is above Championship/PL Relegation struggler level.

 

[Tring Wolf]

One of the biggest issues we found when we went to 4 at the back under Nuno was how weak we were aerially and how frequently we conceded from set pieces. The game at home to Brighton was embarrassingly bad and it looked like we’d concede every time the ball came into the box.

Given the make-up and size of the rest of our side, if we are going to play 4 at the back, I think both centre-backs need to be hugely strong in the air, which Collins will undoubtedly help with. It was another reason why I hoped we would get Palhinha as he could help in that respect with the transition to 4 at the back.

If we play say:

Sa
Jonny, Collins, Coady, RAN
Neves, Moutinho
MGW, Podence, Neto
Raul

There is only Collins, Raul (and to a lesser extent Coady) who will regularly win balls in the air so I would fear for us defending set pieces again.

For that reason, as much as any, I can see us sticking with 3 at the back for the immediate future.

 

[TheConcourse]

It will be more of a 343. Tbh, I was in the Coady out camp at the end of the season, but if our WB’s can get higher up the pitch and enable his long-range passing again then I’m all for him sticking around.

Sa
Collins Coady Kilman
Semedo Neves Mout Jonny
MGW Neto
Raul

That’s a pretty good side. Strong competition everywhere but CM and Raul. If they can solve that, who knows where we go this season.

 

[IrchyWolf]

It's not impossible to envisage Coady playing as a DM anchor in front of a back four as an alternative to a back 3/5.
Predictions of his dropping out are premature in the extreme.

 

[WickedWolfie]

First name on the teamsheet in the middle of 3 centre backs.

Competing with Collins (if we complete his signing) and Boly alongside Kilman in a back 4.

Seen loads of comments about playing him as a holding midfielder in we play a 4, but he's not a top half Premier League holding midfielder for me.

Re your last para you could/should delete "top half" in my view.

 

[WolfLing]

It's not impossible to envisage Coady playing as a DM anchor in front of a back four as an alternative to a back 3/5.

It's not impossible, but people should stop doing it.

 

[Frank Lincoln]

Coady is not just captain, he is our talisman. In my view it would be wrong to even consider letting him go.

 

[WickedWolfie]

It's not impossible to envisage Coady playing as a DM anchor in front of a back four as an alternative to a back 3/5.
Predictions of his dropping out are premature in the extreme.

It bloody well ought to be impossible. Coads himself made it clear that he is no PL midfielder.

 

[Deleted member 8455jwf]

3 at the back wasn't the problem, I expect us to stick with the 3 but now we have added pace and ability on the ball. Lots of successful teams have played with a back 3, our issues come from the limitations and legs of some of the players playing it. Add a pacey box to box midfielder to Kilman and Collins along side Coady, our three at the back would look a lot different.

Our problem is attacking teams in a 3 play a much higher line. With Kilman and Collins hopefully we could but Coady would get pretty badly exposed.

I'd rather a 4 with Neves and another sitting then 4 attacking players with wingbacks supporting high up the field .