3 players in......no outlay.
Okay, maybe City and Worthy are being extra careful, prudent and cautious. There's always the January sales to think of, yes?.
But, I would rather see a Jason Koumas type player come here now, then let a player of his obvious class, disappear to a championship rival by our nervous purse string holders!.
'Be patient' you might say, and you would have a fair point, but I expect many of you, just like me, would like to see some serious action on the incoming front this week.
Or other useful 'targets' could, nay will, slip through the net to our opposition.
Unless of course, the money is not there, and then we might just have to consider shouting 'Don't panic. Don't panic'!.
Anyone agree?.
i don't like this reliance on the jan. window
if you can get a settled squad abd fill as many holes as you can now the better
in jan. when a player arrives he will take time to settle and during this time there will be plenty of games... we cannot afford to waste time
also if we don't have the players early will drop points and maybe even lose players in the window... i'd rather have a settled squad with the holes filled now and for jan. to come when we pick up a few loan players and a final push... not go into jan. needing to fill a hole
so worthy et al lets get the finger out
koumas, robbie blake and a new centre back
Of course I agree
It is all very well being "prudent" and bringing people in for free but the whole makeup of the squad should also be crucial.
Goalkeepers - 4
Right Back -1 no cover
Centre Backs - perm 2 from 4 (Of questionable quality other then Shackell)
Left Back - 1 + Charlton/Brennan
Right Midfield - ? Johnsson not a wide midfielder, McVeigh on transfer list
Centre Midfield - Safri and Jarrett. No cover (assuming Francis goes)
Left Midfield - Brennan and McVeigh?? (Hucks is a STRIKER!!)
Strikers - Strength in depth!!
We need people in before the start of the season or we will have problems.
"The woods would be a quiet place if only the best birds sing"
While City may be being careful with their money, I personally believe given that Worthy has only brought people in on frees, that quite simply we don't have any real money to throw around. It is becoming clearer that any money Worthy can spend will come from any sales he makes (i.e. Francis, Green etc). As they haven't gone yet, he can't buy. Although he does have a reported £500K to play with due to the sale of Helveg and £100K for Svennson, so there is some money about. Of course I expect the crise of "where has the Premiership Parachute Money gone?" but when was the last time you saw a relegated Prem team throw big money around the following season? It just doesn't happen, which makes me skeptical of the nature of the Parachute money - and what is spent on (wages? Maybe someone in the know can enlighten me).
I too am slightly concerned at the size of the squad, with our midfield looking desperately short on players - unless we see more strikers or left backs operating as wingers next season (Jonson, Huckerby, Henderson, McVeigh - who could well be leaving given he is on the transfer list, Brennen). The lack of midfielders will also be felt around January time, when Safri is likely to be heading out for the African Nations Cup - that's if he isn't injured or suspended, as he was injured a fair amount last season, and has a fiery reputation for 'getting stuck in' on the pitch. A new centre mid, and wide man are desperately needed before the start of the season. Our defence however is brimming with players, as is the goalkeeper department. Up front I think with the signing of Thorne we should have an adequate number of players, with Jarvis and Henderson acting as backup in case of a mini injury/suspension crisis.
So who do I recommend? Well Koumas for his skill would be a good buy - but I think his attitude will mean he won't be joining. As midfield playmakers are a rarity at Div 1 level, aside from Commons of Forest, I think we may see another workman like midfielder - no idea who though. Wide right? Not Partridge - I saw him when he scored that goal against us when he was at Coventry, and he did not look anything special that night - and McVeigh scored a better goal than him in that same game. I've always liked Paul Ware of Rotherham, Peter Sweeney of Millwall (although he is left footed), Montgommery of Sheff Utd (unlikely I would think as highly rated up there).
West Brom spent a few million to get back up, and if the right targets become available then we can spend too. £1.25m of the budget has already been taken up by Dean Ashton; an important point to remember.
Free does not equal no quality...We've got the right players in for nothing.
We could have signed 3 other players of similar quality for near £1m...and all of us would take the 'free' option rather than waste money.
The players we have brought in so far are good squad players. We need a strong squad to compete next year. However, the time has now come to spend a bit of cash and buy some quality first division players who will benefit the starting X1. We must have cash to spend. What's the point in saving it until January?
People people, have some faith in worthy! he knows what hes doing!
Who saw the thorne transfer coming,...hey?
Damn it guys, after reading most of the replies here, I'm just starting to get slightly worried now.
Don't panic, don't panic!.
we've replaced Holt, Svensson and Helveg with Jarrett, Thorne and Loius-Jean. We haven't sold or best players (yet) i.e. Green, Francis (whipping boy incumbent) or Ashton and unless we do we've got nothing to panic about.
We could splash the cash on another right-back or centre back to replace the much maligned Fleming.
Who's to say Koumas is the player he was the season previous?
Personally I think if we started with the following line-up - from the current squad - we'll be a match for any of the competition in the Champinoship.
green
louis-jean charlton/fleming shackell drury
jonson safri francis brennan
Ashton Huckerby
subs Ward charlton/fleming jarrett mckenzie thorne
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