If We Go Up - Transfer Strategy

[Ulfotto 644]

What the last couple of seasons have shown is that wholesale changes do not work but no change also does not work.

Sign three or four high quality players to improve the team. But that is easier to write than it is to do.

We would also need some big dollops of luck with injuries and the fixture list. Last time everything that could of gone wrong did.

[wcorkcanary 4,353]

Just remember  guys  , this is a sport we're talking about , its  not the winning and losing that matters, its the taking part that counts.!! 😂🤣😂😇

[littleyellowbirdie 2,605]

I think the pessimism in here about the existing squad is excessive, bordering on contradictory given that Smith's performance as manager is often dismissed with reference to the 'quality at his disposal'.

Nunez is a star in the making; Hayden's a proven Premier League DM once he's fit again (he's back running again); Sara has a bit to prove. Overall, I think there's every reason to believe that, by the end of the season, this lot will be at least as good as what we were promoted with last time, with a much more cohesive and better quality midfield as a starting point, which was our main shortcoming last season. 

There's still 7 months of this season to go before the Premier League's an immediate concern again anyway. 

Edited October 4, 2022 by littleyellowbirdie

[Christoph Stiepermann 1,155]

We seem to be in agreement that we need fewer players of a higher quality or are more effective at what they do. But trouble is the club has tried this twice before, last year we tried and got turned down so signed a bunch of players for the future again and we tried in 2015 and again got turned down by the likes of Koulibaly and Haller. 

The club might have to really stretch it's wage budget this time because I believe that's been the issue before alongside poor training facilities and a history of relegation. The training ground has been fixed but our reputation as a top flight club is lower than ever before. I'd imagine most of our first team are on a similar wage for the sake of squad harmony of 30 to 50k a week in the PL but if we're to get 2 or 3 top quality players we're going to have to look at giving them 80k+ a week and possibly no relegation wage clause to convince them to come here. 

Edited October 4, 2022 by Christoph Stiepermann

[BigFish 1,988]

44 minutes ago, Christoph Stiepermann said:

The strategy should be simply about making it easier for us to score goals and less likely to conceed

Genius, I wonder why we didn't think of this before? 😉

[Christoph Stiepermann 1,155]

Just now, BigFish said:

Genius, I wonder why we didn't think of this before? 😉

I know, sometimes I feel like I should have Webbers job I'm so smart!....I joke but you know what I mean. If you have a pacey, technically good winger who you can't get the ball off of it's easier to get in the box and create chances and you don't have to string together 10 perfect passes to create that chance. Likewise instead of looking for a great all round CB who's a 10% upgrade on what you have get someone in who is exceptional in the air to stop us conceding so many crosses and sure us up from set pieces. A Tettey type player may not make us look a better team and may not be an overall upgrade, but his running and tenacity will make it harder for teams to break us down. it was just my simplistic way of saying go for substance over style. 

Our strategy in the past seems to have been to simply find better players, but I think we should be a bit more pragmatic and not worry about finding better players, just find different types of players that will make us a more effective unit. 

[king canary 7,681]

19 minutes ago, Christoph Stiepermann said:

but our reputation as a top flight club is lower than ever before

This is kind of underlooked but I think is important.

I'd imagine if you're a young player from a foreign league (ala Nunez) we're probably still an attractive proposition as a stepping zone. For a more established player who is looking for a chance to play in the Premier League for more than a season I imagine we're a hugely unappealing prospect right now. 

[Mello Yello 2,306]

We be a yo-yo club we be.....get up to the prem, be gash, go on the lash, grab the cash....then crash....Rinse an' repeat.....

[shefcanary 2,493]

1 minute ago, Mello Yello said:

We be a yo-yo club we be.....get up to the prem, be gash, go on the lash, grab the cash....then crash....Rinse an' repeat.....

Does the drummer know the beat for this one? 🎼🎵🥁

[hairpie 7]

listening to how recruitment team work and there record so far,  i don't think we have a chance to get good premier league players.  we need players that are ready now and if they are expensive only buy one or two.  For example Skipp, would cost a lot but would be better than 6 players totalling the same price, that are;  injured, new to english football, just potential, cheap.

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

3 hours ago, littleyellowbirdie said:

On a slightly more optimistic note, I imagine that, assuming we're promoted as planned, the next transfer window will be when our new Director dramatically ups his financial investment into the club. What we clearly don't want is wholesale change throughout the whole squad though. 

When you say investment, in what way? By acquiring existing shares, a new tranche of shares or simply input of money?

I haven't delved into the new Director's family attitude to club financing but understand they are careful.

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

1 hour ago, wcorkcanary said:

Just remember  guys  , this is a sport we're talking about , its  not the winning and losing that matters, its the taking part that counts.!! 😂🤣😂😇

Bit early to be on the poteen

[repman 636]

I think the one thing that has gone against us the last 2 times we were promoted was we got off to bad starts both times, no doubt this was partly down to the fixture list. In both seasons we played 3 of the previous season's top 5 in the first 5 games. Once you find yourself behind having to play catch up things immediately get trickier, and once you combine that with the low confidence of the squad due to the losses, it can be very hard to compete. Obviously the recruitment has to be spot on too, and it's clear the attempt last season to upgrade the squad in nearly every area was a disaster. 

I also think that, in both 20/21 and this season, we could have been braver and done larger overhauls of the squad, but that comes at a risk of missing out on promotion which would then only make things trickier financially.

[littleyellowbirdie 2,605]

43 minutes ago, keelansgrandad said:

When you say investment, in what way? By acquiring existing shares, a new tranche of shares or simply input of money?

I haven't delved into the new Director's family attitude to club financing but understand they are careful.

As to mechanisms, one can only speculate, but a new share issue would seem to make most sense; buying existing shares doesn't add any new capital to the club. 

His group purchased the Brewers in 2004 for 223 million dollars; they're now worth 1.28 billions dollars. He may be careful, but he doesn't mess around and he has clearly got his eye on being the owner of a Premier League football club. 

Edited October 4, 2022 by littleyellowbirdie

[Samwam27 532]

2 hours ago, littleyellowbirdie said:

I think the pessimism in here about the existing squad is excessive, bordering on contradictory given that Smith's performance as manager is often dismissed with reference to the 'quality at his disposal'.

Nunez is a star in the making; Hayden's a proven Premier League DM once he's fit again (he's back running again); Sara has a bit to prove. Overall, I think there's every reason to believe that, by the end of the season, this lot will be at least as good as what we were promoted with last time, with a much more cohesive and better quality midfield as a starting point, which was our main shortcoming last season. 

There's still 7 months of this season to go before the Premier League's an immediate concern again anyway. 

Plus there's the small matter Gibbs, might just also be turning into a quality CDM, which would take some of the pressure on Hayden, but add strength to midfield.

If we go up this is still an area we need some physicality in, but our defence has been pretty ropey for at least 4 seasons now and that's an area we definitely need to strengthen

Sargent has, at least shown, he can get goals as our main striker, and I think his physical presence might suit us more in the Premiership than playing Pukki as the sole striker (hoping Pukki might stay for another pop at the Premiership) 

[Bradwell canary 109]

As long as they don’t do the same as with Emi. Just promoted then sell your very best player. Did Brentford sell their very best player No. furthermore more he is now being called up by England.

 

[Bradwell canary 109]

5 hours ago, The Bristol Nest said:

If we stay down we will sell our assets and struggle even more.

Even if we go up, we will still sell our best player. It’s in our DNA.

 

[norfolkngood 1,092]

i think last season put us back a little 

The plan was to build everytime we went up that strengthen the team and then one season we might stay there 

last season we spent good money but the signings did not come off 

ok Sargent this season but the other big money signings did not 

also with Pukki Age and contract thats at least one that will need to come in 

i think to have any chance of staying up we need CB X2, LB ,RB if Arrons goes 

CDM but one for cover as i hope  Gibbs will make that his own 

wide right as i think Sarge is down the middle only 

and a replacement for Pukki

so thats is a possible 7 players which we all know is to many to get all together in one season 

[littleyellowbirdie 2,605]

4 minutes ago, Bradwell canary said:

As long as they don’t do the same as with Emi. Just promoted then sell your very best player. Did Brentford sell their very best player No. furthermore more he is now being called up by England.

 

Buendia wanted to go and we couldn't afford to throw away that sort of money on forcing him to stay. We didn't survive the first time around in the Prem with Buendia and there's no reason to believe he'd have made the difference the second time, let alone if he was sulking about being forced to stay, and we all know he wasn't above having a strop. 

But anyway, now there's serious money in the wings, I don't think we'll be going into last season in a manner anything like the last two times. 

Edited October 4, 2022 by littleyellowbirdie

[TheBaldOne66 703]

If we go up we need a new Sporting Director as the last 2 times he’s proved clueless when it comes to finding players for the top flight! 

[SwearyCanary 1,179]

2-3 good strong players through the spine. Assuming Hayden pays off and he stays (big assumption) I think a new CB of some regard and experience, a new ACM to offer something aside from nunez, a new striker and hope Pukki has a last hurrah and Josh keeps developing. A class winger. Then hope there are three worse teams and we are lucky avoiding injuries 

[wcorkcanary 4,353]

1 hour ago, SwearyCanary said:

2-3 good strong players through the spine. Assuming Hayden pays off and he stays (big assumption) I think a new CB of some regard and experience, a new ACM to offer something aside from nunez, a new striker and hope Pukki has a last hurrah and Josh keeps developing. A class winger. Then hope there are three worse teams and we are lucky avoiding injuries 

Easy.

[norfolkngood 1,092]

2 hours ago, littleyellowbirdie said:

Buendia wanted to go and we couldn't afford to throw away that sort of money on forcing him to stay. We didn't survive the first time around in the Prem with Buendia and there's no reason to believe he'd have made the difference the second time, let alone if he was sulking about being forced to stay, and we all know he wasn't above having a strop. 

But anyway, now there's serious money in the wings, I don't think we'll be going into last season in a manner anything like the last two times. 

i do not think it matters who you sell it is more important who you replace them with that matters 

when we sold Emi two quality players one to replace him one to replace skipp would of been better in hindsight 

 

[Captain Holt 522]

1) Sack Smith 

[HB1989 27]

If we are to go up we should be focusing more on buying the best players from the Scottish League, Championship and maybe 1 or 2 if they are something special from League 1.

it was obvious how good the likes of Toney, Bowen, Olise, Eze, Aribo, Konsa and Watkins were going to be, just to name a few in recent times.

With the amount of players (and I don’t think it’s a bad thing) that are out of contract at the end of the season, the recruitment will have to be a lot lot better. With the players that leave for free it would free up a lot of wages. 

In my opinion we would need 5 new players to start depending on the formation played.

Edited October 5, 2022 by HB1989

[Jim Smith 2,349]

3/4 quality signings. Principally a CDM. Also a striker, winger and CB. 

[OnDaBall 137]

Our trouble last season was not how much we spent, but how we spent it, clearly either our scouting was bad, or we just couldn't attract the players we wanted, so ended up with a group who weren't really what we wanted or needed.

A quality replacement for Pukki and a PL quality CDM would be my priority.

What we definitely don't need is a Lingard/Nasmith type signing or rely on loan signings.

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

I used to like it when we recruited players from the division below that we thought could step up. It feels like the Norwich way.

Sure there were flops like Buttterfield, Becchio and Beckford. 

But Drury, McKenzie etc from League One when we were champs.

Howson, Snodgrass, BJ etc from Champs when we were Premier League.

But what we'll probably do is take wild punts on £8m foreign players and then say "they won't be good for the first season". Nunez a rare success but we need a better hit rate than that.

I don't trust Webber with money.

Also, its a big "if", we will be in the mix but I l think Sheffield United will win the league unless they do something silly like flog their best player in January.

Edited October 5, 2022 by TeemuVanBasten

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

26 minutes ago, OnDaBall said:

What we definitely don't need is a Lingard/Nasmith type signing or rely on loan signings.

I don't mind loans where there is an agreed permanent if parameters are met (e.g. plays 25 games and we stay up) as that means the player actually wants to stay here.

What I don't like is loans where we are just being used for development or a shop window, like the Gilmour one.

We did actually have the option to buy Amadou but I think he got a bit unlucky having to play as centre back, I think we'd have seen a decent player if he could have gone straight in at DM and an opportunity to nail his place.

[SwindonCanary 455]

If We Go Up - Transfer Strategy

Don't sell players, like we have in the past.