I watched pretty much every match Cozier-Duberry played for Bolton last year and wow - what a player Boro are getting here.
There's a reason 12 Championship clubs were queueing up for the 21-year-old and Brighton rejected a £7.5million bid from Rangers.
He's a quick right winger with a wand of a left-foot. He cuts in like prime Arjen Robben, defenders know it's coming but are powerless to stop it. But he's not a one-trick pony, he can also go down the line too.
I can count on one hand how many times I saw Cozier-Duberry lose the ball last season. He's short but his low centre of gravity and surprising strength helps him keep possession in the most unlikely situations.
Cozier-Duberry is not one of those lazy wingers either. He doesn't stop tracking back for the full 90+. He coined the nickname Super Amario (Super Mario) for the amount of times he rescued us with late goals.
Bolton have been blessed to have the likes of Conor Bradley, James Trafford and Paris Maghoma on loan from Premier League sides the last three years.
All three went on to play in the top flight the following season. Cozier-Duberry is better and it's a shock he's not playing in the Prem.
This is a really exciting signing if it goes through.
WHITTAKER LEAVING
Not happy if Whittaker is not replaced.
The good and bad points about Whittaker are well known but losing a wide player who is likely to to score a dozen goals in a season is clearly a loss if not replaced by another goal scorer.
philip of Huddersfield 🤔👎
Cozier-Duberry confirmed on loan. Also Burnley have just sold Zian Flemming to Ipswich for 20 million pounds. He always seemed to score against us when at Millwall
@philip-of-huddersfield That of course is the concern. Whilst he is frustrating by the bucketfull , he did come up with 21 goal contributions, 14 and 7.
In some ways we are putting all our eggs in the one basket that is Lankshear. If he gets injured or hits a poor run, then we would need his goals, plus Whitaker’s.
Can we rely on Joseph to play sufficient games and score 12/14 goals. Can McGree stay fit and contribute more than last season. Can Conway come with his 10 / 12 playing out wide. Can we finally get more goals from our midfield than in the past. Can Strelec show that he is a decent player.
As for Cozier-Duberry, for all the plaudits, can he step up from League 1 into the Championship with same success. Castledine has struggled.
We also need more goals from sets pieces and our defenders.
On social media there is some disquiet at the loss of goals, in a side that did not score enough last season. Let’s hope we have got it right this time.
Looking at Cozier-Duberry's video's on You tube one thing that he will bring is pace, something we seem to be lacking. Clips reminded me of a less bulked up Adama Traore.
Also interesting to note that Brighton had extended his contract to 2029 before agreeing to the loan. Clearly they see serious potential in him and they don’t often get it wrong. He sounds like an explosive winger who can go either way past his man and also someone who does his share of work going the other way.
i suggest that we can all doff our caps (metaphorical or actual) to the recruitment team for what has been an extraordinarily successful transfer window, to Steve Gibson for helping make it possible and to KH and the team for creating an environment that attracts players.
It’s hard not to be excited.
utb
Hopefully KH will be able to keep all of the players happy, as we have 24 first team players, so there will be four who won't be involved on a match day. Looking at the squad we do seem to have two players for every position covered with senior players except possibly right back, although Ayling could possible fill in there at a pinch. It looks like the only Academy graduate in the squad is likely to be Sol Brynn for the rest of the season, as Cartwright has gone on loan to Grimsby.
@selwynoz. “i suggest that we can all doff our caps (metaphorical or actual) to the recruitment team for what has been an extraordinarily successful transfer window, to Steve Gibson for helping make it possible and to KH and the team for creating an environment that attracts players.
It’s hard not to be excited.”
I agree with your sentiments about the recruitment team and the transfer window but it will only be deemed as successful if it translates to sucess on the field. Fingers and everything else crossed it does. 🤞😎
There's never a guarantee but one can look at each individual transfer and understand the logic of the deal and take great comfort from the number of other clubs who were chasing the same players and lost out. That's really all that you can ask. In addition, KH has made it very clear that he supports the direction that the acquisitions take the squad, so I am prepared to draw a line under the work that they have done and call it a successful effort by the recruitment team.
Now it's up to KH and his team to deliver the success that we all want to see and, as you say, its very much "Fingers and everything else crossed". We also need to give them some time to make it all gel.
UTB