Palmer/Cole etc.

I think it's quite clear, we have maybe 13 or so players who are at least half decent championship level players (4 of those are loanees), but outside of that we're really struggling in terms of depth.

At no point this season have we been able to look at the bench, and say with certainty that we have players worth bringing on who can change the game.

I don't blame Asbaghi for playing Cole and Palmer etc; the likes of Morris, Bassi and Styles constantly look spent with half an hour left to go. If they're going to play the next game, they need to be brought off. We're severely lacking in depth, not helped by injuries of course.

Regardless of the division we're in next season, we need to clear the decks and start again. Build a team around a spine of players who may be here for at least a couple of seasons.

In the final third of the pitch in particular, we've been incredibly light, despite the number of options we have there. Someone's mentioned Isaac Christie Davies further up, as someone who doesn't get a look in. We've got Patrick Schmidt coming back in the summer, with a year left on his deal. Obbi Oulare, George Miller, Jack Aitchison and David Bremang are all attackers who are out on loan and under contract (I think). Then the players we currently have in and around the squad, Cole, Leya-Iseka, Adeboyejo, Woodrow, Marsh. That's a lot of bodies, and yet we've struggled for goals for the most part of the season. Quite a few of those will have to leave, before we can bring anyone else in.

 

how does that show him support at our first team level?

 

This shows just how shocking our recruitment and retention has been for the past 3 years. Of the attackers you mention here only Woodrow is Championship standard, and only perhaps Victor and Cole L1 standard. Marsh, Aitchinson may be ones for the future (in L1) but the rest are all time wasters. Stealing wages, often bought for substantial fees and practically valueless to offload.

 

In saying, "Maybe we’ve shown him support by letting him stay at Oxford?", I agree that it's giving him the opportunity to develop in the same way that Mowatt did whilst out on loan.
But he needs to sort himself out and let his boots do the talking!
Promoted by the club's Loan Roundup, just checked his stats & they're just not impressive at all.1 assist in the last 7 matches, 5 assists from 28 for the season (nothing to add for a few cup appearances) and zero goals. A red card for good measure, but won't hold that against him.
Think he had about 1 decent game for us under Val, so all the signs are he's way short of Championship standard and the right decision to leave him where he is.

 

If the idea was for him to play in our midfield 2, behind 3 attacking midfielders and 1 striker, then I don't think assists is a valid metric to judge him by. I'd look more at how many tackles has he won, what's his pass completion, how many key passes does he play etc...

We don't know how much money was saved by allowing him to stay out on loan, but the fact the club are claiming they were close to signing Tom Trybull in the window, keeping him may have been an option. And he would've been a better option than Palmer, Benson, or anybody else when it comes to somebody to come off the bench in midfield.

 

its a shame as he does have quality but its lack of fight, energy and determination that lets him down. Keith Hill would knock him into shape a la Vaz Tez and Butterfield style.