Kane Wilson — Confirmed

[tin]

RB/RWB, 21 years old, came through the ranks at West Brom, now at Forest Green Rovers and has 11 assists and two goals having played all 28 of their League Two games so far this season.

I was at the New Lawn yesterday and watched him get both assists in their 2-0 win over Newport, who were fourth-placed before yesterday. I was very impressed, even if that is the first time I’ve seen him. 

I won’t go into his strengths/weaknesses, coincidentally Sky Sports summed them up nicely last week, but I do think he’d fit our system and handle the step up to this level. I hope he’s on our radar. 

@Davefevshave you got any stats for him? 

Edited February 6, 2022 by tin

[Davefevs]

I’ve got lots of stats for him.

I’m hanging onto them for the mo’ though!

I think @Harrymightve been there yesterday???

He’s on my summer list.  Suspect most Championship clubs are taking a serious look at him.

[Harry]

Indeed I was there Dave. 
Tin - see above thread. 

[tin]

5 minutes ago, Harry said:

Indeed I was there Dave. 
Tin - see above thread. 

Sorry, mate. I didn’t see your post on that thread but yeah, his burst for the first goal was impressive. He looked exactly the sort who’d fit a 3-5-2 as we’re playing now or providing the width in Nige’s preferred 4-3-3. 

[Harry]

2 minutes ago, tin said:

Sorry, mate. I didn’t see your post on that thread but yeah, his burst for the first goal was impressive. He looked exactly the sort who’d fit a 3-5-2 as we’re playing now or providing the width in Nige’s preferred 4-3-3. 

Where were you in the ground? 
I decided to stand in the terrace next to the Newport fans - there was an incredibly embarrassing group of them, dressed like tramps, who spent all game shouting ‘wan***” and “paedo” at a group of +80 year old FGR fans. Hilariously embarrassing. 
 

But yes, Wilson was good. Two fantastic assists. 
Ebou Adams was very good too. 
 

 

[tin]

7 minutes ago, Harry said:

Where were you in the ground? 
I decided to stand in the terrace next to the Newport fans - there was an incredibly embarrassing group of them, dressed like tramps, who spent all game shouting ‘wan***” and “paedo” at a group of +80 year old FGR fans. Hilariously embarrassing. 
 

But yes, Wilson was good. Two fantastic assists. 
Ebou Adams was very good too. 
 

 

I was in the main stand, so Wilson got both assists on the side I was sat. I was impressed with FGR, and can certainly see why they’re miles clear at the top.

Newport’s a shit hole full of idiots like that, sadly I’d expect nothing less. 
 

 

[Stockwood gate]

I work with Kane’s dad I will ask him to sign for us

Edited February 6, 2022 by Stockwood gate

[City1984]

It's no what you know, it's who you know

[City1984]

On that note does anyone know lionals dad?

[Harry]

19 hours ago, Stockwood gate said:

I work with Kane’s dad I will ask him to sign for us

Tell him it’s make sense on every level. 
No recognised right back at the club so guaranteed playing time. 
No need to move house. 
Plenty of vegan deli’s in Bristol, so won’t miss the Forest Green diet. 

[Harry]

Hoping to pop up to FGR again tomorrow night vs Rochdale. 
Were we recently linked with Eughan O’Connell from Rochdale? Will give bio a watch too 

[chinapig]

43 minutes ago, Harry said:

Plenty of vegan deli’s in Bristol, so won’t miss the Forest Green diet. 

Alternatively, if he doesn't like the diet there we can offer a year's supply of Clark's pies for each year of his contract.

[Harry]

On 07/02/2022 at 15:45, JonDolman said:

From what I've seen O'Connell certainly likes the ball at his feet and sometimes moving up into midfield. Looks a bit slow though.

A real talker and organiser. And looks good in the air.

I'm sure he will be heading up to at least league one in the summer.

Yep. Not far wrong with that summary Jon. 
Half time up here. O’Connell has been decent so far. Nothing outstanding, just doing exactly what you’d expect of your central CB. Made a few decent clearances, brave on one where he had to collide with the post. Decent enough on the ball, quite composed, but the medium to long range passing isn’t very accurate. 
He’s been bullied by Jamille Matt a couple of times, but that happens to most League 2 CB’s weekly! 
 

He’s a decent size, but does appear to lack a bit of pace.  Here he is. Number 6. 
 

 

[Harry]

For Rochdale, Conor Grant had been quite tidy and a good threat. Playing wide right of a front 3. 
Kane Wilson pretty quiet so far, just a couple of decent crosses in from him. 

[Harry]

4 minutes ago, Harry said:

For Rochdale, Conor Grant had been quite tidy and a good threat. Playing wide right of a front 3. 
Kane Wilson pretty quiet so far, just a couple of decent crosses in from him. 

And right on queue, Grant just created the opening goal with a ball in behind and wide for a cut back. 

[Harry]

Wilson cross. Goal

[Davefevs]

1 hour ago, Harry said:

Yep. Not far wrong with that summary Jon. 
Half time up here. O’Connell has been decent so far. Nothing outstanding, just doing exactly what you’d expect of your central CB. Made a few decent clearances, brave on one where he had to collide with the post. Decent enough on the ball, quite composed, but the medium to long range passing isn’t very accurate. 
He’s been bullied by Jamille Matt a couple of times, but that happens to most League 2 CB’s weekly! 
 

He’s a decent size, but does appear to lack a bit of pace.  Here he is. Number 6. 
 

 

The data reflected that too re O’Connell.

Wilson is gonna be in demand isn’t he?

[BLRed]

Whatever you do @Harry with this possible scouting role at the club, please make sure the club go all out and snap up these gems before others. Seems like we just wait around for the scraps. Let’s get them before they hit the upward curve that is noticeable to others.

[Harry]

8 minutes ago, BLRed said:

Whatever you do @Harry with this possible scouting role at the club, please make sure the club go all out and snap up these gems before others. Seems like we just wait around for the scraps. Let’s get them before they hit the upward curve that is noticeable to others.

To be fair, getting someone who is ‘off the radar’ so to speak is virtually impossible nowadays, what with so much focus from so many teams on finding the ‘next one’, plus so much focus on stats out there means that hardly anyone is ever ‘undiscovered’. 
All we can do is make sure we have enough ‘eyes on’ to be able to firm up opinion, but after that it’s all down to whether the club a) are prepared to take a gamble, b) the player fits our style and c) if they can afford it. 
We’ll certainly keep trying though 

[Harry]

15 minutes ago, JonDolman said:

You say about Ebou Adams. It surprises me clubs have not come in for him. Only just turned 26. A couple of years ago I would not have expected him to stay at that level as long as he has.

Yes, I do like Ebou. He’s a very important piece in FGR’s success. 
He can sometimes be a little hit and miss though - specifically concentration/focus-wise. 
For example, last night, he was hardly in the game for the first 30 minutes, but when he did get into the game he started trying things which he really shouldn’t have tried - it was almost a complacency at times. 
But I do like him. FGR will no doubt be in League 1 next season, and if he stays it’ll be interesting to see how he gets on at that level. I think L1 is probably his ceiling. 

Edited February 9, 2022 by Harry

[BLRed]

@harry you have the potential to shape the clubs on-field success by helping get the recruitment right. Pushing the club to sign players like matt jay, kane wilson etc before they get beyond our affordability could be huge not only to improve our playing squad, but for future financial gain having improved said players. We need to be more pro-active in this field similar to Brentford. Personally feel like the club are always just sitting on their hands whilst others profit.

Take Scott Twine. Could have at one stage signed him on a free and he was a gamble we should have been all over but now we probably couldn’t afford him despite him being at a lower level

[Davefevs]

@BLRedyou can’t “push” the club to sign anyone.  All people like Harry can do is when they identify a player (or are asked to look at a player), is to do their due diligence and present their findings against the brief provided. Whether the likes of Harry are positioned to provide a recommendation or not, I don’t know.  It depends on the dynamics of the relationship between Nigel Pearson, the recruitment team and Harry.  Harry might have no relationship with Nige, it might wholly be into Sean Gilhespy’s team???  It could just be a simple “handoff” of a player to the recruitment team to take further, e.g. undertake more scouting and analysis.

You are absolutely right though, we need to have enough “bandwidth” to ensure we cover the leagues beneath the Championship, and Scotland and Ireland too.  As per the Rob Newman interview for FBC pod, we need to have intell on everyone…and as early as possible.  I’d be really interested where George Tanner was sourced from?  Mark Ashton decimated the scouting set up for obvious reasons!!!

Scott Twine is an interesting example. I like him too. But no Championship clubs took the plunge either, it wasn’t just City.  £300k plus 20% sell-on was agreed at the tribunal (via an initial £150k and then another £150k next month).  For City that would need to be weighed up against his place in the pecking order against City’s other players, and pathway too.

Were you BOSRed previously?

 

[BLRed]

Yes I was BOSred previously.

[Davefevs]

6 minutes ago, BLRed said:

Yes I was BOSred previously.

Thought so….you been quiet in twitter too.

[Merrick's Marvels]

Harry & co had to persuade SO'D that Flint was worth buying - good luck getting Big Nige in a headlock and twisting his arm about anything though!

Don't see why we'd have been interested in Twine when we knew Scott and Benarous were coming through - can't see Twine playing wing back like Scott has this season. 

Edited February 9, 2022 by Merrick's Marvels

[BLRed]

55 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Thought so….you been quiet in twitter too.

Yeah, thought id settle down with my opinions as there is no point getting annoyed anymore. 

[Lorenzos Only Goal]

On 06/02/2022 at 14:55, Harry said:

Where were you in the ground? 
I decided to stand in the terrace next to the Newport fans - there was an incredibly embarrassing group of them, dressed like tramps, who spent all game shouting ‘wan***” and “paedo” at a group of +80 year old FGR fans. Hilariously embarrassing. 
 

But yes, Wilson was good. Two fantastic assists. 
Ebou Adams was very good too. 

He did well at Afcon as well 

[Davefevs]

1 hour ago, Merrick's Marvels said:

Harry & co had to persuade SO'D that Flint was worth buying - good luck getting Big Nige in a headlock and twisting his arm about anything though!

Don't see why we'd have been interested in Twine when we knew Scott and Benarous were coming through - can't see Twine playing wing back like Scott has this season. 

I don’t think SOD didn’t think Flint was a good player or was worth signing, it was more how much of his small budget it would take up.

[Peter Coles]

42 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

I don’t think SOD didn’t think Flint was a good player or was worth signing, it was more how much of his small budget it would take up.

Didn't SOD say he wasn't worth the transfer fee?

[Davefevs]

4 minutes ago, Peter Coles said:

Didn't SOD say he wasn't worth the transfer fee?

I think the context was as per my post…that it took up more if his budget than he wanted it too.  So yes you could take it as literal as your comment above, it was more in the context of what it left him with…and meant he couldn’t bring in others as a result.

Wasnt the best communicator was he our SOD!

[Merrick's Marvels]

4 hours ago, Davefevs said:

I don’t think SOD didn’t think Flint was a good player or was worth signing, it was more how much of his small budget it would take up.

Yes, he said he wasn't worth £300K - meaning in the context of his overall budget at that time. 

[tin]

Scored for Forest Green yesterday as well. His stock’s rising. 

[exAtyeoMax]

https://www.bristolworld.com/sport/football/bristol-city/bristol-city-weigh-up-move-for-forest-green-rovers-starlet-but-identity-an-issue-for-the-robins-3617458

 

[Dolman_Stand]

I don't think we'll be looking for a young right back from L2 since we already have Tanner who presumably Pearson believes will be the future of that position, think the plan may be to bring in an older player to cover the next 12 -18 months and share the minutes with GT

[Finley_Smith10]

Would be nice to have an actual right back 

[KegCity]

I've really liked what I've seen of Tanner, handled the move up the leagues just fine and been pretty steady. Everyone moans about us missing out on Ollie Watkins etc, Wilson is likely to be one of those in the future. If the fee is reasonable it's a complete no brainer.

[Davefevs]

57 minutes ago, KegCity said:

I've really liked what I've seen of Tanner, handled the move up the leagues just fine and been pretty steady. Everyone moans about us missing out on Ollie Watkins etc, Wilson is likely to be one of those in the future. If the fee is reasonable it's a complete no brainer.

And to get two athletic FB/WBs is no bad thing if we want to play a more aggressive front-foot style.  Lot of workload for FBs these days.

[GrahamC]

3 hours ago, exAtyeoMax said:

https://www.bristolworld.com/sport/football/bristol-city/bristol-city-weigh-up-move-for-forest-green-rovers-starlet-but-identity-an-issue-for-the-robins-3617458

 

Fair enough, but before we start debating what shirt number he’ll wear next season I’m pretty sure Gregor was confidently reporting in the first week of the January transfer window that Kasey Palmer was joining QPR.

Clearly highly rated but think it would be a gamble to have him & Tanner as our 2 RB options, time will tell.

[Selred]

Could Wilson play RM if needed?

[Mattredrobin]

2 hours ago, GrahamC said:

Fair enough, but before we start debating what shirt number he’ll wear next season I’m pretty sure Gregor was confidently reporting in the first week of the January transfer window that Kasey Palmer was joining QPR.

Clearly highly rated but think it would be a gamble to have him & Tanner as our 2 RB options, time will tell.

I think you're right would be a gamble we need some experience at this level in that position, but know doubt he's a good player, a fair few good one's at that level that we could potentially pick up

 

 

[BLRed]

Worth a scout tonight on sky sports. FGR playing colchester

[Davefevs]

6 minutes ago, BLRed said:

Worth a scout tonight on sky sports. FGR playing colchester

I hope the Colchester Performance Analysts have been watching him too.

[BLRed]

3 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

I hope the Colchester Performance Analysts have been watching him too.

Why’s that? No doubt his ability and way of playing is well documented. If they’ve done their homework, we should see him being doubled up on. Interested to see how good he is as finding the space on the flanks and his movement. As someone else said, maybe a consideration for right wing rather than a right back but can do both

[Davefevs]

5 minutes ago, BLRed said:

Why’s that? No doubt his ability and way of playing is well documented. If they’ve done their homework, we should see him being doubled up on. Interested to see how good he is as finding the space on the flanks and his movement. As someone else said, maybe a consideration for right wing rather than a right back but can do both

Just a subtle message to an OTIB reader

[Port Said Red]

1 hour ago, BLRed said:

Worth a scout tonight on sky sports. FGR playing colchester

If anyone's watching I would be interested in what you think of Sarpong-Wiredu for ColU.

[WECANDO]

14 minutes ago, Port Said Red said:

If anyone's watching I would be interested in what you think of Sarpong-Wiredu for ColU.

Looks slow and hesitant. Not Championship quality.

In the same game Im looking at Chilvers as an attacking midfielder for Colchester. Has pace and good control. In our team think he would be decent.

[Harry]

Pretty quiet game for Wilson tonight. He’s usually a lot more of a threat that he showed tonight. Interestingly I thought Colchester tried to stifle the two wing backs (Wilson & Cadden), knowing that’s FGR’s main threat, which actually meant more room for Sweeney & Cargill as the 2 wide centre backs to come forward into the attacks instead. 
Ebou Adams was his usual industrious self. 
For @Port Said Red’s interest, I thought Adams and Stevenson in the middle really bossed Sarpong-Wiredu, though he did work hard and defended well. 

[Davefevs]

18 minutes ago, Harry said:

Pretty quiet game for Wilson tonight. He’s usually a lot more of a threat that he showed tonight. Interestingly I thought Colchester tried to stifle the two wing backs (Wilson & Cadden), knowing that’s FGR’s main threat, which actually meant more room for Sweeney & Cargill as the 2 wide centre backs to come forward into the attacks instead. 
Ebou Adams was his usual industrious self. 
For @Port Said Red’s interest, I thought Adams and Stevenson in the middle really bossed Sarpong-Wiredu, though he did work hard and defended well. 

A game of lots of 6/10s.  First half was a bit open and we saw what some players were capable of, but second half was played in the middle third as Adams played a bit deeper, more alongside Stevenson, and completely stifled Wiredu and Chilvers.

Wilson just did the simple things most of the game.  Gets his head up, first touch decent to give him a bit of time, and importantly able to look inside.  Doesn’t have to resort to clipping hopeful channel ball as a result, which is a good thing.

I thought Cadden was good opening 30 mins, another who opens up to play infield.  Had a couple of really good situations second half but didn’t get whip / good contact on his crosses.

Stevens, who I was interested in watching tonight (rather than Quest and clips) worked hard enough, got the goal (brave header), but didn’t get much service.

Chilvers, bright 20 mins then drifted out of the game.

Didn’t spend any time focusing on Sarpong-Wiredu.

 

[Waconda]

Unless NP has mad an error with Tanner and wants rid then no chance we will be signing a similar lower league player to cover the same positions.

Not any more complicated than that really.

 

 

Edited March 22, 2022 by Waconda

[Pezo]

9 hours ago, Davefevs said:

Doesn’t have to resort to clipping hopeful channel ball as a result, which is a good thing.

 

My pet peeve in football, looks intricate and interesting but in reality is just lazy and easily defended. Players tend to use it when they run out of ideas.

[Phileas Fogg]

2 hours ago, Waconda said:

Unless NP has mad an error with Tanner and wants rid then no chance we will be signing a similar lower league player to cover the same positions.

Not any more complicated than that really.

 

 

Not so sure, right back or right wing back is a demanding position. If we're planning to persevere with a 5 at the back formation we will need options there. Tanner has had a couple of injuries already and if we want to be competitive, we need competition for places there. We can't keep shoehorning the likes of Vyner in there. 

Alex Scott has done well when playing that role, but he's clearly naturally a midfielder. We're far better off having specialists in their positions there. 

[Waconda]

28 minutes ago, Phileas Fogg said:

Not so sure, right back or right wing back is a demanding position. If we're planning to persevere with a 5 at the back formation we will need options there. Tanner has had a couple of injuries already and if we want to be competitive, we need competition for places there. We can't keep shoehorning the likes of Vyner in there. 

Alex Scott has done well when playing that role, but he's clearly naturally a midfielder. We're far better off having specialists in their positions there. 

Oh I think he will bring cover in but more likely a "Rowe type" than this guy. More of a utility player if you will.

That's if NP wants to continue with his "small squad" mantra and with the budget restraints.

[Phileas Fogg]

2 minutes ago, Waconda said:

Oh I think he will bring cover in but more likely a "Rowe type" than this guy. More of a utility player if you will.

That's if NP wants to continue with his "small squad" mantra and with the budget restraints.

I suspect Pearson would rather have a smaller squad of quality that he can rotate in and out rather than utility players. His signings to date, not stop gap ones (ie King, Simpson) have indicated that. A similar squad building mentality to the Cotterill double winning squad.

That said, the way he's used Bell, Scott, Benarous etc outside of their natural roles indicates he's not adverse to "utility" players as a principle.

[Waconda]

1 hour ago, Phileas Fogg said:

I suspect Pearson would rather have a smaller squad of quality that he can rotate in and out rather than utility players. His signings to date, not stop gap ones (ie King, Simpson) have indicated that. A similar squad building mentality to the Cotterill double winning squad.

That said, the way he's used Bell, Scott, Benarous etc outside of their natural roles indicates he's not adverse to "utility" players as a principle.

In hindsight we could have done with Rowe this season. But he wasn't to know that.

[Davefevs]

55 minutes ago, Waconda said:

In hindsight we could have done with Rowe this season. But he wasn't to know that.

I think what we found with Tommy was that despite perceived versatility, he really only gave us anything at LB/LWB.  We’ve generally been ok there with Dasilva, Pring and O’Dowda.  The small number of times he played in midfield, he didn’t hit the mark imho.  V.good pro though.

[Waconda]

5 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

I think what we found with Tommy was that despite perceived versatility, he really only gave us anything at LB/LWB.  We’ve generally been ok there with Dasilva, Pring and O’Dowda.  The small number of times he played in midfield, he didn’t hit the mark imho.  V.good pro though.

Yes agreed but think he could have been used as cover for the James/Williams injury issues allowing Scott to play RWB. Just think in a small limited squad like ours you need a "Rowe type" or two around, relatively cheap team player.

During these next 2 rebuilding years anyway.

Edited March 22, 2022 by Waconda

[Davefevs]

5 minutes ago, Waconda said:

Yes agreed but think he could have been used as cover for the James/Williams injury issues allowing Scott to play RWB. Just think in a small limited squad like ours you need a "Rowe type" or two around, relatively cheap team player.

During these next 2 rebuilding years anyway.

Agree re “Rowe-type” in CM for James / Williams, just not Rowe in this case

Guessing felt that King and Massengo were deemed enough.  Surprised Vyner never got any minutes either, even if not ideal / not really in plans.

[Taylor10]

1 hour ago, Waconda said:

In hindsight we could have done with Rowe this season. But he wasn't to know that.

Good honest pro but we really couldn’t have. Miles behind JD & Pring & never a champ level player sadly.

[BCFC Rich]

5 hours ago, Phileas Fogg said:

Not so sure, right back or right wing back is a demanding position. If we're planning to persevere with a 5 at the back formation we will need options there. Tanner has had a couple of injuries already and if we want to be competitive, we need competition for places there. We can't keep shoehorning the likes of Vyner in there. 

Alex Scott has done well when playing that role, but he's clearly naturally a midfielder. We're far better off having specialists in their positions there. 

If you want wing backs to be high intensity and provide most of your width and wide attacking threat then having 4 and using rotation can be really effective. Pochettino used to do this at spurs with Walker, Rose, Trippier and Davies. Kept them high energy and focused when they played. 

[Waconda]

9 hours ago, Davefevs said:

Agree re “Rowe-type” in CM for James / Williams, just not Rowe in this case

Guessing felt that King and Massengo were deemed enough.  Surprised Vyner never got any minutes either, even if not ideal / not really in plans.

Always felt that Vyners best position is DM.

[Waconda]

6 hours ago, BCFC Richard said:

If you want wing backs to be high intensity and provide most of your width and wide attacking threat then having 4 and using rotation can be really effective. Pochettino used to do this at spurs with Walker, Rose, Trippier and Davies. Kept them high energy and focused when they played. 

Budget is the issue here but totally agree in theory.

Edited March 22, 2022 by Waconda

[Mr Popodopolous]

Saw on Quest last night watching the highlights, he both won and conceded a penalty.

[AshtonRobin21]

Struggling to find the original link from James Piercy, but came across this on twitter. 

[Gazred]

We are in talks with him according to this.

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/bristol-city-transfer-nottingham-forest-7077938

 

[AshtonRobin21]

For me, this could be the best bit of business we do this summer. IF we can get it over the line. 

[Lew-T]

11 minutes ago, Gazred said:

We are in talks with him according to this.

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/bristol-city-transfer-nottingham-forest-7077938

 

To be fair I don’t really listen to Bristol Post when it comes to ‘transfer talk’. Won’t get excited just yet…

[Lew-T]

It would be very good timing to try and land him though. What with the predicament Forest Green find themselves in.

[Gazred]

4 minutes ago, Lew-T said:

To be fair I don’t really listen to Bristol Post when it comes to ‘transfer talk’. Won’t get excited just yet…

Likewise, just putting it out there.

One of the best players in L2, good age, an area we need to strengthen, local and on a free. No brainer.

Watch him go elsewhere!

[AshtonRobin21]

2 minutes ago, Gazred said:

Likewise, just putting it out there.

One of the best players in L2, good age, an area we need to strengthen, local and on a free. No brainer.

Watch him go elsewhere!

Has every chance of replicating Scott Twine, albeit from Right wing back. 

22 years old, double figures for assists, out of contract (small fee required due to regulations), and potential to command a high future fee. 

Would be nice to see us actually secure this signing. Still annoyed that we didn't pursue Twine last year. 

Could make the position his own for years to come, with Tanner challenging him, that's a great future for the club. 

[Selred]

As others have said, the only concern is that we've got untested Tanner, and then untested Wilson. 2 rookies vying for the RB role.

Personally I'd rather we signed someone like Smith for experience, however I also prefer Wilson over Tanner.